I have made one or two tutu dresses in my life. (Understatement of the year...) But it's pretty rare that the dress is just for fun and not a costume. I decided it was time to just make a totally fun tutu. And even better? I made it for a baby!
Is that not the cutest thing you have ever seen? I mean really.
It's incredibly easy too! It takes a touch longer than a plain tutu dress because of all the funky ties at the bottom, but it's totally worth it.
Supplies
6" crochet headband - If you aren't making it for a baby, check out our other sizes of crochet headbands so you can find a top to fit
Tulle - For a baby, you should just need one roll of each: AM Beauty, Paisley, Lemon, Shrimp
Scissors
Measuring tape
Crochet Hook
--or grab our Tutu Making Kit that comes with tutorials, a crochet hook, pen, paper, and a Hair Bow Company measuring tape
Decide how long you'd like your tutu to be. I knew mine would be for a baby so I wanted the skirt to be about 9" long. This would mean I'd need to cut my tulle strips about 20" long.
I don't cut tulle strips one at a time. I find a box or lid or something the right length and use that as a tool. I found a lid to a small Rubbermaid bin that was about 9" across. Take your tulle and wrap it around the lid over and over. (For a baby tutu, you probably won't need the entire spool. Do about half. You can always go back and cut more.) Once it is wrapped, carefully cut the tulle along one end of the lid. ONLY ONE END. This will give you a pile of tulle strips about 19-20" long. Perfect!
Don't begin knotting your tulle on the very lowest row. Hop up one row so you are knotting it around a full square, not just a thin string. Make sense? Take a peek at the tutorial pics if that is unclear.
Push your crochet hook through the hole from the inside out. (You could do it from the outside in, but I have found it lays nicer when you do it from the inside out. Most importantly, stay consistent!) Once it is pushed through the hole, take a strand of tulle that is folded in half, and pull the fold through the hole. That sentence sounds complicated but I PROMISE it is not! Again, look at the pics for guidance. Grab the ends of the tulle and pull them through the loop of tulle to make the knot.
Move over to the next hole and repeat. Over and over. Be sure you're staying consistent about what row you are knotting. Sometimes it helps to stop what you're doing and hold your project up to make sure it looks like it should.
Knot knot knot. All the way around. You could stop there. I did. And then I cut 3-4" strips of lemon, shrimp, and paisley tulle. I tied those on the bottom of each pink strand. (This step takes a while!)
See how it looks? On the left? Yeah. It's cute. But look at the one on the right. That one is MUCH cuter. That is with another layer of pink tulle attached.
I'm so in love with this fun dress. I was thankful to have a set of twins to dress up at a recent photoshoot! Come back next week for the tutorial for the coordinating knot tie tutu. And then after that I will have the tutorial for both of their headbands!
