tutu tutorial...FINALLY!

My friend Melissa asked me awhile back how I made my tutus and I told her I'd post a tutorial. Being the horrible friend that I am I've taken forever to get it posted but finally here it is!

Supplies:
tulle
ribbon
scissors
measuring tape

First off you will need to take 2 measurements-around your child's waist and then starting at her waist measure down the length you'd like the tutu to be. For Harleigh I'm using 21 inches around and 15 length.

Take your waist measurement and double it and then cut your ribbon to that length. At the end you might want to trim the ribbon down but this will ensure you have enough to tie a good bow. *I'm actually doing something slightly different with the "tutu" I'm making in these photos so I'm using a piece of fabric*


For tulle you can either use tulle yardage or a spool of tulle. The color choices are better if you go with the yardage but if you use a spool there are less cuts to make. I'm not sure on the price difference. This is the first time I've used a spool and it was given to me.


Now you need to take your length measurement and double it (mine will be 30) and start cutting your tulle. Since I'm using the spool this is fairly easy. If you are using yardage you will have to figure out how wide you want your strips. My spool is 6 inches wide but in the past I've done strips that were more like 2 inches. It's really up to you. Don't worry about cutting straight lines because truthfully it's going to be hard to tell on a moving (most likely twirling) little girl. Start cutting and cut and cut and cut some more. I can't really say for sure how many you will need b/c it varies depending on the size of the child and on how full and long you make your tutu. *I used about 16 on this one to give you a very faint idea. Yours will probably be much fuller than this though.*


Now it's time to start knotting the tulle to your ribbon. Take a piece of tulle and fold it in half and lay it on top of your ribbon.


Then you are going to take the ends of the tulle and curl them up behind the ribbon and loop them across and through the top of the tulle where the fold is.


Tighten it down. Your ribbon will probably curl and twist some. It's ok just straighten it out if does.


Continue knotting all your strips on in this manner. If you want a really full tutu then slide each piece together really tight. *Mine are spaced around an inch apart*


For an idea of what a full tutu will look like here is one I've done in the past.


That's it! Just tie it around your kiddo and they will be off into a ballerina blissfulness!

I also made a tutu dress for Harleigh Rae's first birthday. To do that I grabbed one of the extra wide crocheted headbands and knotted the tulle into the bottom 2 rows of holes on the headband...like this...


Then to strung a piece of ribbon through the middle hole on the top front and tied it around her neck. You can't really see it in the picture though because I embellished it with a flower that covered up the ribbon.


And here is a sneak peek of my next project that I'm so very very excited about!!!

Mission Accomplished...sort of!

Last week I set the challenge to make a wedding gift, a dress for Harleigh and a dress for myself. I ended up buying a dress for myself but since I made Harleigh 2 dresses I think I did alright.

Here is the first dress I made. It was a practice run. Thanks to Lex over on the Made By Lex blog for the dress tutorial!




The second dress for the wedding...I also did a silk flower refashion for it and wrapped the headband. My mom made the bow.


And here's the wedding gift

Feeling Crafty

I haven't done much crafting lately and I'm really feeling it. I'm in luck though! My cousin's wedding is Saturday so not only do I have a gift to make but I'm also thinking Harleigh needs a new dress and MAYBE if I have the time (or the sanity) I will make a dress for myself. I have this killer idea for one but admittedly my kidlet clothes come out better than my adult items so I'm slightly intimidated.

So the challenge is set let's see what I can do!!!

p.s. If you haven't checked out my friend Sarah at She's A Peach you should. She's got a cool giveaway going but I really think I need to win because Harleigh wants a hat :)
http://hawklady-sarahsblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/my-first-giveaway.html

Love Bug!

I'd been eyeballing the Sienna Dress pattern from Lil Blue Boo for awhile but knew I'd want to immediately start making dresses for Harleigh and I had other things I had to get done before the holidays. Then I had this Rockstar Baby order for Ms. Catherine that I needed to get sent off.


FINALLY I got my chance to snag the pattern and was super excited to find out about the Lil Blue Boo / Dharma Trading Design Challenge!


I had rescued a bunch of shirts from my sister Becca that had been Goodwill bound a couple months ago and already knew what my first project would be. There was a black and white reversible tube tube with the most perfect little polka dots all over it and it was destined to become something fabulous! While I can't exactly explain my thought process for anything because it's too confusing I will say my inspiration was a jumble of the looming Valentine's Day, tiny pigtails, and Harleigh's nickname of Love Bug. Using the tube top, an old red onesie, and a plain white tee I came up with a little dress/top that I continually drool over. Instead of long sleeves as the pattern uses I shortened them so that she could wear the dress into the summer. I also made it shorter than the pattern so that she wouldn't get caught up as she constantly motors around by scooting on her booty. I used a freezer paper stencil to paint "love" on the front and then embellished the back with a set of red wings.


Maybe I'm not the most fair judge but I think she made the cutest little valentine ever!

a slightly further step back in time

What is it about sitting in the dark by myself that makes me think back? Tonight I was flipping through photobucket and came across this picture. Since tomorrow is Valentine's Day I thought it was appropriate. This was Valentine's Day 2 years.

nostalgia has set in

Everyday I promise myself I will blog about something, anything to get me started again, and tonight as I sit here in the dark, unable to sleep I seem to have found the time/energy/desire to actually do it.

Tonight I read a heart wrenching story (http://enjoyingthesmallthings.blogspot.com/2010/01/nella-cordelia-birth-story.html) which got me to thinking about the day Harleigh was born. Her story and mine really have no connection other than we both gave birth to little girls but for whatever reason it gave me some blog mojo.

Little Miss Harleigh Rae turns one next month. Like all moms I can't believe the year has gone by so fast. It seems like the years go faster as I get older and makes me cherish this time with the kids even more.
I miss that (not so) tiny thing!