My easy tutu tutorial was originally posted it in 2009, and it has been viewed and shared all over the world as parents make tutus for their little princesses, fairies, and ballerinas. This easy tutu tutorial will help you to create your own No-Sew Tutu skirt for children or adults! Check out the step by step instructions with lots of photos below.
For her second birthday, I made Grace a no-sew tutu. It was one of the cutest things I've ever seen.
You know we're anti-princess around here, but I thought a tutu would be a perfect dress up piece. Tutus are all about imagination and whimsy. Tutus can work for ballerinas or fairies or special birthday girls.
It was the perfect project for a momma who was injured and lying on the couch. It's very simple and most of it can be done while lying down.
How to Make a Homemade No-Sew Tutu
Tutu Materials
- Tulle - I used about 10 yards of tulle, sold by the yard. You should be able to get rolls of 4" or 6" tulle, but I couldn't find any. I allowed Grace to choose her colors, and she picked purple and yellow. I bought 5 yards white, 3 yards purple, and 3 yards yellow, but if I was starting over, I'd just do half purple and half yellow. The white diluted my colors more than I would have liked.
- A length of ½ inch elastic or ribbon
- Spools of matching grosgrain ribbon
Measure Your Child
- Waist - If you're going to use elastic, cut a length of ½" elastic that is 2 inches shorter than your child's waist. If you're using ribbon, you will need to cut her waist measurement plus 2 feet or so, enough to tie the tutu onto her body.
- Waist to knee - This one is simple. How long do you want the skirt to be? I think Grace might have liked her tutu even more if it was shorter. I made it knee-length, but I'm thinking about cutting it off at the bottom.
Instructions
- Joe did this part for me. Cut the tulle into strips that are 4" to 6" inches wide and twice the finished skirt length. I made my tutu 18" long, so my strips needed to be 4" by 36" wide. I had more strips than I thought I'd ever need. That's just about the right number. (Note - 18" is far too long. Go with 12" or even 8" instead. The longer tutu got really scraggly over time and overwhelmed my little girl.)
- If you're using elastic, overlap the ends and sew. I couldn't use my sewing machine, so I did it by hand. I would have preferred my machine. No matter.
- Grab 3 pieces of tulle and stack it nicely.
- Fold it in half. Loop the center point under your waistband.
Next, pull the ends down over the waistband and tuck them into the loop. Pull the ends so that the top makes a loose knot.
- If you pull the knot too tight, it will curl and stretch the elastic, be difficult to work with, and need to be loosened later. I'm just saying.
Good. Not too tight and not too loose.
Too tight. I had to pull these all out a bit.
- Repeat that process another thirty or thirty-five times. I started out with a pattern, but I abandoned it in favor of whatever looked nice. I ended up with 38 knots, and my tutu is sufficiently fluffy.
- If you're going to use ribbons, you can tie them over top of the tulle in the same way. Alternately, you can tie them in shoelace-type knots over top of the tulle. Either way would look nice and leave long tails hanging down in the tulle.
- That's it. Your tutu is finished.
- I considered a waistband to finish off the top and make the whole thing less scratchy. I also considered gluing some little flowers or some glitter onto some of the pieces. Both would be nice additions.
Alternate uses for a homemade tutu
If your husband spends two hours cutting tulle, and then you spend four or five hours tying knots in tulle, and your child refuses to even put her feet in her tutu, you will find alternate uses.
- Tulle makes nice scrubbies for the shower. I didn't take it apart. I was hoping that some day, she would change her mind (and she did!).
- All of those panels would work nicely for dusting knick-knacks.
- You can play peek-a-boo with a tutu around your neck.
No Sew Tutu Cost
- I bought tulle at 99 cents a yard.
- I bought two small rolls of ribbon, each for 99 cents.
- I had elastic in my sewing stash already.
- Total cost - Under $13
Try these other simple and easy crafts:
- Washi Tape Butterfly Magnet Craft
- Washi Tape Heart Suncatchers
- How to Make No Sew DIY Lavender Sachets
- Step by Step String Art Tutorial for Beginners
This easy no-sew tutu was a huge hit for years after I made it! I made many more using this same tutorial, and they all came out wonderfully puffy and full of fun. I did make the tulle 16" long in subsequent tutus so that the finished piece was only about 8" long. That was a lot less overwhelming for my little girls.
Heather says
I used your instructions and I just wanted to THANK YOU! My daughter ADORES her Tutu which she refers to as her "skirt" lol Here is a picture of her wearing it. [IMG]http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o37/ZenMama83/DSC01583.jpg[/IMG]
FeelsLikeHomeBlog says
Thank you so much for sharing your photo! She's gorgeous!
Loliimi says
What happens if it's too tight?
And it says that it was never worn again.. Does that mean that it can't be worn again, or your daughter just not wear it?
I love the idea! ;D
What other types of cloth could you use along with it?
Thanks!~
Felicia
FeelsLikeHomeBlog says
If it's too tight, I would take it apart and add another couple of inches of elastic at the seam.
Grace didn't wear it again because she was afraid of it. She's recently become interested in it again, and she wears it several days each week.
I think you could do it with any type of cloth, as long as you can tie the knot. You would have to cut it into strips and tie it on. I'd love to see pictures of whatever you come up with!
Katie says
My daughter and a classmate are sugar plum fairies in the upcoming school program. I am so glad I came across this blog. THANK YOU...the tutu's were super simple and absolutley fabulous!
Jessica says
I love your tutu. I am looking for one for my daughter's first pic's and I was about to spend about $75. Now, I can have Grandma make it with love!! You just made my day:) P.S. My first child is Grace, too!!
Melissa says
Wow, thank you! I am trying to make a tutu right now and your picture for the slip knot was just what I needed! Thanks!
And your tutu is really pretty 😀
eb says
we used our first one as a window valance, just snip the elastic to open it up it is really cute
Yasmeen says
Thanks so much! I hope this will be easy for my friends and I, for Spirit Day this coming up Friday!
The theme is "Color Wars in Purple", do you think you have any ideas ?
FeelsLikeHomeBlog says
I would get a couple different shades of purple. You can get dark purple, lavender, and probably even a medium purple. Try a local fabric store or a craft store. You should be able to find lots of different tulle, maybe even some with glitter or sparkles. 🙂
Good luck! I'd love to see them when you're done.
hterice says
I love your instructions. My friend showed me how to do the one I made my little girl. I am going to make tutus for all the girls at my Effys 1st B-day. I have already made wands and fairy tiaras. It is a fairy party.
http://hterice.blogspot.com/
hterice says
I love your instructions. My friend showed me how to do the one I made my little girl. I am going to make tutus for all the girls at my Effys 1st B-day. I have already made wands and fairy tiaras. It is a fairy party.
http://hterice.blogspot.com/
Rachel White says
This is pretty awesome and funny! Love your sense of humor!
Kayla Glenn says
I am also making my daughter a tutu for her 2nd birthday and i am making her 2 for two diffrent parties. Your instructions are very good thank you.
bluegrassmom says
Funny! I made my daughter a tutu to wear at her 2nd birthday party and she was scared of it too. Now that she's two and a half and very much into "looking pretty" I'd like to try it on her again, but I got rid of it already because it was just getting in the way.
FeelsLikeHomeBlog says
We buried Grace's in the bottom of her toy box. We were cleaning her room just this week (she's a little past 3), and she found it. She wore it almost all day yesterday and all morning today. It seems for us, 3 is much more into the tutu than 2 was.
They're so inexpensive that you could make another one pretty easily. 🙂 Good luck!
Tara S says
Awesome tutorial! I was able to make the cutest little tutu for pictures that we took of my daughter!
http://sewandtellbytara.blogspot.com/2010/08/tulle-tutu-no-sewing.html
sarah says
this is so cute - i am going to make one for my daughter for halloween (and playtime) this year. but i was wondering, would you call this a tututorial? 😉
Kara Brooke says
Thank you for this tutorial! I almost paid $30 for one, when I came across this. Now I'll only have $10 in the project, and I will be proud to say I made it myself! It's going to be perfect for my 22 year old Fancy Nancy costume 🙂 Thank you again!
Tiffany says
Thanks for tha guide! Just used it to make my 3 month old a tutu for Halloween, it turned out awesome! Thanks!
Tara @ Feels Like Home says
That is hysterical! 🙂
Tara @ Feels Like Home says
The tulle I got was about 45 inches wide, so we cut 11 strips across the width of the fabric. That's about 110 yards of strips. I had a lot left over, though. You could probably go with 3 or 4 rolls per tutu and have plenty.
mom22girls says
Thanks! That'll work out great since I was planning on doing 3 colors per tutu (and of course, they don't like the same colors;).
Ejdtholmes says
I love the tutu...I started making hairbows for my daughter and she won't keep them in(she is 17 months) so I started making them for my niece and friends. I decided to add more projects and wanted to try a tutu for my little girl. I just finished it. It is adorable. I didn't use as much tulle as I probably should have, but next time will. Didnt want to lug 4 kids back to the fabric store:) Thanks for making this so easy!! YOU ROCK
Crystal says
I sat down and made two of them tonight for my husband and I for an upcoming race. I need to make one more, since they will both be destroyed shortly after the race starts, and I refuse to spend the rest of the day in a dirty tutu.
Reeves says
This is really cute. I just made a couple of red tutus for a class I used to teach her in Thailand and the little girls loved them. It only took me a couple of hours, yet they will be the best dressed girls in the school show, LOL. Thanks for the nice photos too!
DeeDee says
Thanks for the great instructions!! I'm going to make one for my 16 month old grand daughter.
DeeDee
ps: fabric.com and joanns.com have the tulle in the 6 inch width size. fabric.com has it for 2.99 a 25 yard spool. 🙂
Becca says
I made one of these for my 3 yr old. She loves it! I bought smaller spools of tulle that were 6" wide. I think they were thicker than regular tulle, so I ended up just knotting each individual strand. The only drawback was the sparkle purple tulle I used was a bit scratchy. Otherwise, a success. Thanks for sharing the tutorial!
taylor says
can you wash theese in the washer???
Feels Like Home Blog┞¢ says
I've never tried. I think it would be okay on my washing machine's hand wash cycle, but it would depend on your machine. It might get tangled or fall apart. If you don't have a hand wash cycle on your machine, you might be better off to do it by hand. Let me know how it comes out?
Ash says
Are the pieces of tulle just cut into little rectangles or did you have to do anything to the ends that show to make them look good?
Feels Like Home Blog┞¢ says
The pieces of tulle are cut into very long rectangles. You don't have to do anything to the edges because tulle doesn't fray.
Angie says
Hi I was wondering , where did you buy the tulle ?
Feels Like Home Blog┞¢ says
I got mine at Walmart, I think. Fabric stores always carry tulle, too. I think there are also online retailers where you can buy it. That might be the easiest because you could get a roll that's already cut to the right width.