Friday, July 27, 2012

A Midsummer Night's Dream: Fairy Tutu Dress

The iron tongue of midnight hath told twelve:
Lovers, to bed; 'tis almost fairy time. 

-William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act 5 Scene 1


I love these sweet little tutu dresses. I love how ethereal and fairy-like they are. Most of all, I love how they can make you forget that that you're on your 20th repeat of "Stay away from the water. Come back here. COME BACK. I am counting to three..." Now, if you are looking to make one of these, chances are that you have some experience with these little fairies I speak of, and you know exactly how this whole scenario goes, so...

...On to the Tutu dress!






These were SO easy to make! And I even took the difficult route by using the tulle that comes on a bolt instead of those cute little spools you can buy at the craft store. But this is how I did it:

Measure your munchkin from armpit to floor, and double that length. Cut 10 yards of bolt tulle into strips that are 8 inches wide by that measurement you just got. My little one's doubled measurement happened to thankfully be the with of the bolt fabric, so I just had to cut it into strips. No extra cutting necessary.
*If you are using the tulle that comes on a spool, your yardage is going to be anywhere from 100-400 yards depending on how full you want it and how tall your little lady is. 100 being about right for a toddler. Think along the lines of 100 yards per year of life*

For this Tutu Dress, I used 5 yards ivory and 5 yards of mint tulle.

Now take white elastic banding and measure around your munchkin's torso right at their armpits. Cut the band an inch or two smaller than that measurement, and sew one end to the other. You will have a big circle now.

(Reserve 2 strips of tulle) Take 2 strips of your tulle just layered together (I put one layer of each color together), and fold them in half, making an arch in the center. Put the center arch behind the elastic, and then pull the tails over the elastic, through the arch, and tighten. (Not too tight- get em all on there before you tighten really well, that way you can be sure they are evenly spaced)

Now if you'd like to cover the elastic that is still peeking out, take a ribbon, and tack it at one spot on the elastic. Then wrap it over the adjacent knot, and back up, over the adjacent knot, and back up, etc., etc. until you get all the way around, and tie a bow. (See here if that confuses you) Save the rest of your ribbon to cinch the empire waistline once the dress is on your little sprite.

Now put the dress on that little lady, cinch that waistline, and take your reserved pieces of tulle- put them on top of one another. Wrap them from the back of the right shoulder to the front of the right shoulder (Threading them under the elastic band- these are your arm straps) over the back of the neck to the front of the left shoulder, and to the back of the left shoulder. Then tie in the back and you have arm straps and a little halter. You could opt to sew these into place, but I am lazy and this works great. So there :)

Now jump for joy! You did it!


Linking Up
 
Tip Junkie handmade projects

27 comments:

  1. What a beautiful little fairy girl you have! I know she must love her "twirly dress" as my daughter used to call them. Some day, I'll have a granddaughter to make one of these for!

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  2. This is amazing! I have seen lots of tutu skirts made using this process, but never a dress. I have a niece that will have to have this. I would love for you to share it at Snips & Spice Sunday Slice.

    Malory
    http://snips-and-spice.blogspot.com/2012/07/sunday-slice-its-party-5.html

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    1. Thanks for linking! I liked it so much that I featured you this week! Check it out here: http://snips-and-spice.blogspot.com/2012/08/saturday-is-special-day-party-features-5.html

      I hope you will link up more great projects tomorrow.

      Malory

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  3. I think my little girl would freak out (in a good way) if I made one of these for her. Thanks for sharing!

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  4. Cute! The pictures of her running through the field are so cute.

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  5. Oh Miriam... how absolutely precious! YOur little one is joyful in her tutu cloud dress.
    Thanks for the fabulous tutu-torial! PLEASE stop by and join in TUTORIAL TIPS AND TIDBITS. Linky goes up Wednesday evening, at 8:00!
    Glorious!

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  6. This is Melissa @ Daisy Mae Belle. LOVE this tutu dress! My girls think they are too old for such "cuteness!" Even the youngest at 8 thinks she is too big! Those older sisters are rubbing off on her too soon! I need to find a little girl to make one of these for! Dreamy!

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  7. That is amazing! I love how perfectly it turned out! I've made tutus before with this method, but I love the idea of making a dress. And that is the perfect way to make straps!

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  8. SOOO CUTE!! Are you wanting to make more? lol! I think we need to have a craft night one of these nights!

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  9. This is such a cute dress and what a gorgeous little fairy wearing it! I am now following you on linky and GFC. I would love for you to visit, follow back and maybe even link up on my Monday linky party.
    http://www.igottatrythat.com/p/blog-hop-linky-colde.html
    Thanks
    Marcie @ www.IGottaTryThat.com

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  10. This is so lovely! My daughter would love to twirl around in one of those!

    Deme
    http://freshpaintabq.blogspot.com

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  11. So Awesome! Stopping by from Domesblissity. I am a new follower. I would be so grateful if you would link this up at Mom's Library!

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  12. So cute! I am making something like this as a Ming Ming costume for my 3 year old for Halloween. Love the tutorial!

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  13. She is precious. so precious, and I love her tutu! My niece made these for her two little daughters. Then she sat in my living room, making another for a friend while we talked!

    Thank you for sharing these beautiful images at Potpourri Friday!

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  14. I'm in love! My daughter would never take this off...

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  15. Thanks for linking up! I'll be featuring this on my blog on Saturday!

    http://www.sumossweetstuff.com

    Thanks!
    Sumo:)

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  16. absolutely adorable!!! both my little tutu clad fairies are grown up, but loved seeing this precious post!!

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  17. Just gorgeous, no sewing involved. I love it! Thank you so much for sharing, the photos are priceless. What a doll!

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  18. What would you estimate the cost of the materials needed to make the dress? My daughter looks to be the size of the girl (your daughter?)

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  19. Absolutely gorgeous - thanks for sharing, I saw your link at Sumo's.

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  20. The dress is gorgeous.. My grand child would love it.. Hugs, Cindy

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  22. Wow so cute. She is just looking out of the world. My daughter will love this dress. I just found some online stores which offer tutu dresses for girls and they are just amazing. I will buy tutu dress online for my daughter.

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