Wednesday, July 29, 2009

A Tu-Tutorial

Making a tutu at home is cheap, fast and easy! NO SEWING NECESSARY! Let me walk you through a few simple steps and you will have your little ballerina dancing around in no time!

Supplies:
Scissors
1-3 Rolls of 6" Tulle (different
shades)
Elastic band (up to 1/2 in. wide)
Ribbon tie for back (Optional)




Step 1: Take your elastic band and tie it around a chair back (or in my case, I used a wooden tray). You want it to be stretched, but not to its full extent so you do not exhaust the elastic band.

Step 2: Now cut a piece of tulle that is approximately between 15"-24" long, depending on how long you want your skirt to be. *Note: the length of the skirt will be HALF of the length you cut. You can always trim it shorter at the end of the project.
Step 3: Fold your piece of tulle in half and place behind the elastic. Loop the loose ends of the tulle around the elastic and through the hole in the middle.














Step 4: Pull to tighten. DO NOT tighten all the way because it will stretch out the elastic and you don't want to do this until the end. Repeat Steps 2-4 over and over and staggering color variations evenly until you have enough to create a full tutu, based on your child's size. The more ties and the closer together you bunch them will determine how full your tutu is.

Step 5: You have several finishing options. 1. You can just tie the elastic in a tight knot. 2) you can sew a pretty ribbon to the ends of the elastic to provide a little room for growth. 3) You can sew the ends together *it might be easier to sew the elastic together in step 1. I have also seen someone do the entire tutu on a ribbon, but I have not tested this.





THAT'S IT! You have a beautiful tutu fit for your princess!


Wednesday, July 22, 2009

The Tiniest Ballerina

The tiniest ballerina came to my studio the other day. Hilary and her Mother, Jennifer, were such wonderful subjects. We had alot of fun! I can't wait to watch Hilary as she grows up and changes through the year!
I made this tutu just for this shoot because I didn't have one small enough. I had no idea it was so easy! I am offering a step-by-step tutorial on how to make one for your daughter in my upcoming newsletter. Email me to join the mail list.
Just look at this angelic face!
The mother and baby pictures turned out exceptional. Jennifer is so very photogenic and I had a hard time just selecting one to post!