My Inner Martha Stewart

I'm a rock star.

What a way to begin a post, right?  But I have to say it.  It's the truth.  Because last night, my inner Martha Stewart made an appearance.

When it comes to all things crafty, you can usually count me out.  I may be able to imagine up something unique and pretty in my head, but it never turns out how I pictured it.  My creative juices flow in words, not with a sewing machine.

But I'm trying to change all that.  At least a little bit.  Because I want my house to look like a home without spending a million bucks.  Plus, I'm living vicariously through Evie, and want her to be surrounded by all things pretty and sparkly so I can bask in them too.  Again, without spending a million bucks.

Last night I jumped on the bandwagon that seems to be making the rounds. I made Evie a tutu. She's going to be an Autumn fairy for Halloween, and I haven't been able to find a tutu that I liked.  So I decided I would take a shot at making one.

It seems like everyone is making tutus right now.  Everyone.  And now I know why.  Because they are so easy to make!

From start to finish, it took me just over an hour.  That's with cutting all the tulle and everything, which is one of the most time-consuming parts of the project.  And the best part? It only cost me $7!

This tutu was a practice run.  I couldn't find any orange tulle at the fabric stores in town for her costume, so I picked up some pink and black instead.  I'll have to order orange tulle online somewhere and I'd rather mess up with colors that I don't have to custom order.

I got four yards of tulle, two yards in black and two in pink.  The best way to cut the tulle is to roll the tulle up like a tube and cut it in three inch sections.

For a small child, the lengths of tulle will be too long so you will need to cut each piece in half.  See what I mean about cutting the tulle being the most time consuming part?  I had big messy piles by the time I finished cutting everything up.

For the body of the tutu, I used an adult stretch headband.  You know, those really cheap ones you can buy in a pack to use for when you're exercising?

The next step is easy.  Just tie the piece of tulle onto the headband in a knot.  That sounds confusing when I write it like that, but that's all there is to it.  Just slip the piece of tulle through the loop of the headband and tie a knot (like when you're tying a shoe, before you do the loops) in the middle, so that the tails of the tulle are even.

Just keep it up until you fill the headband.  I alternated the two colors every other knot (pink, black, pink, black, etc).  One word of advice I would give is to not put the tulle too close together.  I ran out of tulle when I was about 3/4 of the way around the headband.  I had to go around and spread out the knots at the end which was annoying. I could have bought more tulle to complete it, but the skirt was full enough as it was.

I added some thin ribbon randomly in the skirt as well at the end to give the tutu a little something extra.  I tied the ribbon the same way as the tulle.  

And here's the finished product.  I think it looks pretty fabulous, if I do say so myself.

I have a feeling Evie is going to flip over it.  And if I can't find orange tulle for a reasonable price, she can always go as a punk rock fairy for Halloween!

And since I know my directions were probably a little confusing, for better step-by-step instructions, watch this video.