I have made many a tutu in my day, but this is the first for my daughter. There are tutorials all over the place and they may use other methods but this was how I learned years ago and it’s fast , easy and worth sharing. I love the silly fun frills that come with girls and know that once she can voice her opinion about clothes, hair clips and tutus my reign supreme will be done. She loved feeling the texture of the tutu but really it’s a fun prop for pictures at this age, in a year or so it will be good for play. The nice thing about these easy tie tutus is that you can add or remove tulle as needed as long as the ribbon is long enough. As with any object with string/rope/ribbon these are NOT to be used unsupervised, slept in or any other activity that isn’t directly supervised.
- Gather your materials. You will need tulle ( I used a roll of 6″ wedding tulle from Wal-mart), ribbon for the waistband, thinner ribbon for contrast and scissors.
- Measure your child’s waist with the ribbon, double it and cut.
- I am not one to measure mostly because I am impatient with everything other than small kids but also because my son turned my yard stick into a lance to go with his Knight’s Shield. So instead I use my arms. For the tulle I did 2 arms lengths and cut. I like longer pieces because once you pop them on the ribbon they will be poofy. Tutus should be poofy! I did 30 of these. Not all at once.
- Then I folded the tulle 4, made a loop around the waistband ribbon, pulled it through and tightened. At the bottom you will see a loop , just snip it.
- Keep going after 9 I popped on a contrasting ribbon in gold. These were only one arms length and I added it on the same way.
- Once all the tulle is on ( test it on your child a few times) make a spot in the front middle and using the same ribbon as the waistband is made from tie a bow on. This gives the illusion that the tutu is tied in the front but stops your child from being able to untie it themselves.
- Tie it on and take pictures 😉 I am saving this for when she is a little older although she had fun practicing pulling up in it.
melissa says
LOVE it! this would be a fun thing for my four year old to make herself. maybe as a gift for friends!! fun idea!
thanks for sharing
Sandy says
I love this! I really need to make some for my girls!
Jenae @ I Can Teach My Child says
Oh…how I would LOVE to have a little girl right now! 🙂
Rachel says
I love this! I appreciate anything that has a no-sew tag and this is so cute!
Juli says
Love this! I’ve made a tutu before in the way you’re describing but bought it buy the yard and cut it. The roll of 6″ tulle is way easier!!
butterfly wishes and wonderland dreams says
Cute!!! she is a doll!
Catherine says
This is brilliant!:-) Will be making one of these for my little girl. Thanks for sharing.
angie says
Wow what a fun and simple project to do with my girls! Thanks this is great!
Zoie @ TouchstoneZ says
My 4.5yo and 2.5yo sons have been begging me for tutus. Now I can no longer say I don’t know how. I’m off to find tulle and Star Wars-ish ribbons tomorrow!
April says
When you folded the tulle did you just fold it in half and then in half again? Thats the only part I didn’t understand these are so cute!
admin says
Yes – I folded it once along my arm to measure then folded it again before tying it on.
Jen says
To me, the directions were not clear? Need more pics and description please!
admin says
What part is unclear, I’d be happy to explain further!
Maz says
Just tried making as favors for my daughters 1st birthday… Turned out so pretty and was easy!
Maz says
Just tried making as favors for my daughters 1st birthday… Turned out so pretty and was easy!
admin says
Yay! Excited we could be a part of something so special – hope her birthday is wonderful!
Jessica says
I’m making this for my daughter’s first birthday in a few weeks and I wasn’t sure what you did with the ribbon to tie it on. I know you made a fake bow to put in the front so she couldn’t untie it, but how/where did you put the actual ribbon? Did you just make another “real” bow in the back? Sorry if this is such a dumb question!
admin says
Not a dumb question at all. Yes you will have another real bow at the back.
Jessica says
thanks!
Ashley says
I just finished making 20 tutus for kids and adults( Race for the Cure costumes) this was solo easy and much cheaper then buying them at the store. The only thing diffrent I did was use elastic instead of ribbon for the waist!!! Thank you for posting this.. I will never buy a tutu from a store again!! Hand made is the way to go
Allison McDonald says
This comment is so rad. I am so happy to help you and hope that you all have a great race.
Susy Perizzolo says
OMG! Thank you for post this tutorial. It was a breeze to make and SO quick to make. My little princess will love it when she wakes up in the morning. Thanks again.
Christie says
Am I reading it right u tied on 4 pieces at one time ?
Allison McDonald says
It’s two pieces folded in half so there are 4 ends. Does that make sense?
Jessica Jones says
I love this! I’m making one for my daughter for her first birthday in a few weeks. Got a question though: what is the gold ribbon for exactly? And if I wanted to use three different colors (pink ombre) how would you recommend doing it?
Allison McDonald says
If you want a ombre effect I would layer three colors making sure that they are folded on the same color (if you just fold it in half you will get stripes )and then loop it through. email me if this doesn’t make sense and I will see if I can send you photos to help!
Hannah says
I too was thinking favors fit my daughters birthday. Love the ombre, but didn’t understand your description…
maryann says
I made one for my daughter’s 4th birthday. She does ballet and loves tu-tu’s so I an super excited and can’t wait to give it her. She will love it! Such a great and easy fun project. I will never buy her a tu-tu again…. Unless of course for her recitals! Thanks for posting this!!
Allison McDonald says
You are welcome! My daughter still wears this one 3 years later… benefit of being a big baby I guess 🙂
Karren says
Hi, thank you for posting, this is fantastic!! 🙂 I’m excited to have a go at making one for my daughters first birthday… Just wondering how many yards approx did you use? Just want to know as I’m pricing up ordering it and want to make sure I order enough 🙂 Tia
Allison McDonald says
Oh gosh I will have to dig the tutu out. I think the spool was 50 yards but not wide.
Theresa says
Thanks for sharing this ! I plan on trying this out really soon , and your daughter is super adorable 🙂
BB Crafts says
Wow!! This is awesome and will try to very soon!
Adam Jones says
I love this! Thank you for post this…..