Tut(u)orial

I really need to quit it with the cheesy titles.

Last week I needed a gift for a two year old little girl and I just wasn’t “feeling” the stuff in the stores.  I figured something handmade would be right up my alley and I know this is the prime time for dress-up clothes so that’s what I dove into.  We won’t even discuss how making this stuff made me want to have a little girl…. ahem.

So, um… yeah.  I was in full-on princess mode: tutu, cape, crown, and wand.

The Crown

Let’s start with the crown.  I followed the tutorial at Craftiness is Not Optional for this one.  You start by drawing yourself a little crown template on scrap paper and cutting it out:

I traced this on to felt and cut two pieces.  I also cut two pieces of heavy iron-on interfacing and trimmed them down like so:

Iron the interfacing to each piece.  Then I added braided trim with hot glue, tucking the edges around the edge. Measure a length of thin elastic from your toddler’s temple to temple (around the back of the head, not the front!), pin the ends of the elastic to the bottom corners of the crown, place the two felt pieces together (interfacing to interfacing), and sew all the way around the outside edge.

I hot glued a few rhinestones to the top edge to finish the crown and give it a little extra princess bling.

The Wand

Cut two stars from purple felt and two slightly smaller stars from blue felt.  I used my Cricut to cut a star template and made it easy on myself!

It is important to remember to sew the smaller stars to the larger ones BEFORE you begin sewing the larger stars to each other.  I used embroidery floss to add detail and whip stitched the edges.  I also left a small gap in stitching at the bottom of the star so I could insert the handle.  Use polyfil or any batting to stuff it.

I put a dollop of hot glue on the end of a painted dowel (from the craft store) and pushed it into my puffy star.  Next, you’ll want to tie a little puff of tulle right under where the star meets the dowel.  Finally, tie two pretty ribbons under that.

The Cape

I don’t have much in the way of photos for the cape because it was straight up sewing (I hate satin!) and I followed the tutorial at Georgia Leigh.  I drew my own pattern template, cut it out, and followed the typical sewing instructions.  I did not, however, use fusible Heat N Bond on my applique. 

I cut an oval from the blue felt and drew/cut a crown from the purple felt and simply zigzag stitched around the edges.

 

I used velcro tabs for a closure and the cape is reversible… sparkly blue on one side and appliqued purple on the other.

The Tutu

These instructions are as old as the sun so I also don’t have too much of a visual for you.  You’ll just have to take my word for it that it’s stupid easy!!

I used two 25 yard spools of 6” tulle from the fabric store and it was just enough.  I had one lavender spool and one blue spool.  I also used about 18” of one inch wide elastic and some lavender satin ribbon. This fits loosely on a skinny two year old and will have plenty of stretch for an older kiddo. 

Cut two lengths (eyeball it!) of ribbon, fold the edges over, overlap the end of the elastic and sew a nice secure box for each side of the elastic. Tie knots on the other ends of the ribbons.

Now you’re going to cut a TON of tulle strips.  I wanted approximately a 15” length on my tutu so I cut 30” lengths of tulle.  You can adjust that longer or shorter, just remember that your finished length will be half the measurement you cut the tulle at.  And don’t worry about being SUPER precise… it all sort of blends in once you are done.

All you have to do is tie that elastic around your thigh or a pillow and start tying the lengths of tulle to the elastic.  I used a simple double knot. You want it tight enough to stay but not so tight that you distort the elastic.  Alternate your colors (or not, if you’re doing one color) until you get to the end of the elastic. It seems like it will take you forever but it goes surprisingly fast.

And there ya have it! One very sweet princess dress-up set that kicks the mass manufactured stuff’s booty AND for about $25.  You can’t beat that!