Tu Tu Tutorial

I finally managed to finish the tutu/skirt for Toots preschool ballet classes. She doesn't start the classes until this coming Saturday so for once, I haven't been rushing to get something finished at the last minute.

You'll have to excuse me, but this is my first tutorial of sorts. I'm actually not much of a seamstress. Actually, I'm nothing at all like a seamstress. I just wing it, sometimes things work out, quite often they don't.

For this skirt I started off with a metre of pink mesh like material, two metres of inch wide pink ribbon and some narrow elastic to use for gathering the fabric. To find out the length of elastic I needed, I just wrapped it around Toots waist and cut it to length. I allowed just over an inch of overlap.




I cut the pink fabric in half and laid the two pieces one on top of the other before using the narrow elastic to gather. Basically I sewed each end of the elastic to opposite ends of the fabric. I pinned the fabric out stretching the elastic out to the full length of the fabric before quickly sewing along the length of the elastic. Don't worry about this part being pretty, you'll cover the elastic and any wonky stitching with the ribbon.

Once I'd finished doing that, it looked like this.

I then folded the ribbon and skirt in half along the elastic to find the center of both and folding the ribbon in half pinned it over the elastic, creating the begining of a waistband.

Something like this.

Then carry on pinning the ribbon over the elastic out in both directions until you have completely encased the elastic with pink ribbon.



Toots is only 3, so using two metres of ribbon left plenty at each end to tie the skirt around her waist.



Once the ribbon is pinned in place, backstitch using small (ish) stiches along the length of the ribbon about 1/4 inch from the long edge of the ribbon.

You should wind up with something that looks like this.

I decided that I wanted the skirt to be a wraparound rather than a step through skirt because this set of lessons will last ten weeks> There are another set of lessons a bit later in the year over the summer and then a further set of lessons at the beginning of next year. I'm hoping that this way the skirt will last 18 months or so.

I'll post a photograph of Toots wearing the skirt for Project365, just as soon as she comes home from her Nana's house.

Actually, I forgot to mention that I'm having a go at Project365 this year. Hopefully, I'll learn how to use my camera because I just don't have a clue at the minute.

If I'm honest that thing scares me a bit.