Tutus on Ice!

I think I'm on a bit of a roll with posting! I'm not quite to the point where it's like every Tuesday I do a blog post, but we're getting there! I've had a few adventures in the kitchen recently so I've got some material for future posts.

Today I thought I'd share a super simple project: tutus! I made my first tutus (thirteen to be exact...) for the dance team that I now coach. The girls wanted something different to wear than their normal uniforms, and I suggested making tutus. They were extremely easy! It's just when you have to make more than one that they get a little time consuming.

On a semi side note, for the past five years my mom has done the Polar Plunge with her work. It's an amazing event that raises money for Special Olympics. You can plunge solo, but most people go as a group. I went with a dance team I was on one year, and it was a blast! I recommend that everyone should do it at least once. One of the cooler things about the plunge is all of the crazy costumes that people show up in. The group before my mom's happened to all be in speedos...some were nice to look at...some not so much. My mom's work usually just has t-shirts made each year, but this time she asked if I would make tutus for everyone that was plunging. I knew some of the people plunging with her, and the thought of those folks, plus my mom, in a tutu? Priceless.

So! Super simple tutus! All you need is elastic strips, needle and thread, and tulle. Now, the needle and thread part may scare some of you, but it's just to make the elastic strip into a ring! I suppose you could use a long ribbon and tie it, but I like the finished look of a complete circle of tulle.

First, take the elastic strip and measure it around your waist. I do mine right above my hip bones. You want it to be a little snug but not too much. Enough that when you put the tutu on it stays put but doesn't squeeze your stomach in. Once it's cut to the desired length, overlap the two edges a bit and sew them together to make a circle. This is the form for your tutu!

Next you need tulle. You can find all sorts of colored tulle at your fabric store, but I just go to Walmart for mine. I haven't compared prices, but they can't be too different. I usually pick two colors, and the amount will vary depending on how fluffy you'd like your tutu to be. I think 3 yards for each color is a good amount if you're doing two colors. Cut the tulle in about 2"-3" strips (eyeball it, I didn't measure a thing when I made these). I did all the cutting at once and just put everything into piles.

However long you'd like your tutu to be is up to you. Take that desired length and double it because you'll be folding each tulle strip in half for this project.

Next, take two strips of tulle and lay them together. Now here's where you can do one of two things. Take your elastic ring and

1) Tie the tulle strip in a double knot around the stip.
OR
2) Fold the two strips in half, but the folded end under the elastic, and pull the "legs" of the tulle  over the elastic and through the tulle loop.

Method 1 will get you a nice secure tutu, and method 2 is faster (in my opinion) but the knots come loose much easier.

This is Method 1

Continue either method around the whole elastic ring and POOF! Tutu! You can make it suuuuper fluffy by making the knots really close to each other.

Here's 8 tutus piled up!

The look was a success! Everyone, even the gentleman, loved their tutus! I ensured my mom that they wouldn't fall off while plunging because of the elastic. Funny thing about tulle though, it gets real heavy when wet. No one fully lost theirs, but there was some definite clutching going on as they tread through the ice cold river.