SquirrelHead wrote:Cat, can you walk us through the creation process? I would love to make one to wear in the dust and the ones you made look great! Also, wear did you get the tulle and are they all pretty much the same? Thank you!!
Telling you the process is almost embarrassing, because it's so easy. I can foresee a cabal of Etsy tutu peddlers descending upon me in righteous fury, like a frenzied magicians on Penn & Teller or psychics on Randi.
I got my tulle at a thrift store. It was crazy cheap... about $6 for, gosh, I figure at least 20 metres of material. I only bought the one colour; they had about 4 or 5. In retrospect, I should've bought it all and started a tutu empire
. (I went back to try and buy more, and it was sold out. There's a children's dance school in the neighbourhood with a costume store, so I suspect all that tulle was a donation of old stock from them.) But, anyways, tulle is pretty cheap, and they'll have tonnes of it at any decent sewing store. I've seen it sold for just a couple of dollars a metre.
To calculate how much tulle you need, multiply the waistline of the person who will be wearing it by 10.5 for a full-length tutu or by 5.25 for a mini. (Approximately. There's a lot of room for variation depending on how wide you cut your strips, how tightly you tie your knots, and how much you bunch them together. The numbers above reflect 7" strips and about 1.5 strips per inch of waistline, which was what I did). So someone with a 36" waist will require approximately a 10 yards of tulle for a long tutu or 5 yards for a mini.
You'll also need to buy a length of sturdy elastic. The stuff I used is about 3/4" wide and has a lot of resistance when stretched. If you use a narrow, soft, or very stretchy elastic (like the stuff in underwear), you'll end up with it all stretched out of shape once the tulle is on. If you're unsure, ask someone who works at the sewing shop to help you; they'll know.
STEP ONE: Cut a length of elastic equal or slightly shorter than the waist measurement of the person who will be wearing the tutu. Sew it together with a one-inch overlap, so you'll end up with a loop one or more inches smaller than the waist measurement. For a larger waistline, you'll want the difference to be bigger. This is because the weight and tension of the tulle tied to the elastic stretches it out a bit. I learned the hard way that using a loop equal to the wearer's waist results in a too-large tutu. For a 36" 'waist, I'd go with a band that's 34" around.
STEP ONE: Cut the tulle into strips 6" or 7" wide, widthwise along the fabric. You don't need to be precise, but try to stay in this range. Too narrow, and your tulle won't pouf. Too wide, and it will be bulky around the waist. If you're making a mini, cut each strip in half to make two short ones.
STEP THREE: Tie each strip of tulle in a slipknot (two half-hitches, actually) around the elastic. The knot should fall in the centre of the strip, lengthwise, so that the two ends hang down to the same length. Pull taut so the knot is nice and small, but not so taut that the elastic folds. Orient them all the same way, so that the knots all face either inwards or outwards. Push the tulle strips together as you go around. Continue until you have tulle strips all the way around the tutu. In the pic below, the knot faces inwards. In my tutus, they face outwards. Tie a few and decide which you prefer.
STEP FOUR: Trim tutu to desired length. Do this carefully, measuring each strand before you cut. Remember that because the tutu is pouffy, 10" strands will result in a skirt much shorter than 10" of hanging fabric. It's best to have the wearer model the tutu and measure the length that ends at the right part of their body.
VARIATIONS: Using two or more colours together results in a cool effect. You can alternate tulle with ribbon or other fabric (but be sure, if it is a fabric that frays, to hem it along all edges to prevent MOOP. Also, remember that the other fabric won't be as pouffy as the tulle). You can cut the tutu to in alternating lengths for a more fairy-like/ghostly effect. Or you can make a "mullet"-style tutu with shorter tulle at the front and longer at the back. Instead of using tulle fabric, you can buy tulle ribbon in 6" widths. That will result in a lot less cutting and more even/straight pieces, but I imagine it would be way more expensive.
If the tutu ends up too large for the wearer, it's easy to shorten the elastic. Just remove a few strands of tulle, cut and re-sew elastic, and re-add the tulle strands you'd removed.
Hmmm.... you know, you might want to check out some of the tutorials online for a better explanation.
http://www.makethemyourself.com/tutu.htmlhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7aSPMEn7S0 ...and many more. Google "no-sew tutu." You'll see some variation in techniques and styles, too. But one word of warning: At least one source told me to use elastic that was longer than the waist measurement, and that was most definitely WRONG.
Good luck! Please post photos when you're done!
If you want drama to stop following you everywhere, try letting go of the leash.
It's not much work, and I'm really happy to be using up all this fabric. 
