Tu-Tu-Tutorial

To celebrate our upcoming Etsy Labs PSA's, I'd like to share a fun way to make yourself a fabulous tu-tu. Everyone should have one of these in their house - they're very handy for playing dress up if kids are around or if you just need a quick costume for a party. Ok, let's go!

Start with a pile of fabric scraps:



You can make this out of any fabric really, but I chose some pinkish and purplish hued taffetta-like rags to get a traditional girly look.



Cut the scraps so they are a reasonable height (about twelve inches). They can be any length, you can have one continuous fabric layer all around or mix and match a bit. Set your sewing machine to a long stitch length and make basting stitches all around the top edge of all of your fabric pieces.





Once you have the basting stitches in place, gather the fabric by pulling one piece of thread (not both) at the end of the fabric. The fabric should bunch up and you can then spread out the folds evenly by hand.



When you have all of your pieces gathered, lay them out the way you want them to be on the tu-tu. Then, cut the bottom two inches off a t-shirt and cut in half so you have one long strip of fabric. Any long strip of fabric will do, but I like t-shirt material because it has a slight stretch and feels soft against the skin. Measure around your body where you want the tu-tu to sit (waist or hips depending on your preference) and make sure your fabric strip is long enough to fit you with a couple extra inches of ease for the fastener. Pin your fabric onto this strip.





Set your sewing machine to a smaller stitch and sew a straight line over the pins (you should take them out as you go along to prevent jamming your machine.)







Make sure to backstitch at the ends so your stitching is secure. Once you have all of your pieces sewn on (you can add many layers for different effects) sew on some kind of fastener. I chose velcro because it's durable, but you can also use a hook and eye or a button closure if you're feeling saucy. It's a good idea to close up the ends of your fabric strip by folding them and sewing them up with a vertical line of stitching. When sewing on your fastener, make sure it is placed where you want your tu-tu to fit. If you want to wear it around your waist you will have to make it fit smaller than if you want to wear it at your hips.






Once you have your basic tu-tu made, you can add little embellishments. I added a little rosette using leftover fabric and trimmed it with a button. To do this I gathered the rosette material using the same method and then sewed it on with the button by hand.






The finished product! (See how happy I am?) Accessorize with magic wand, etc.