Tutus Galore {and Giveaway}!: What I'm Making Monday

When I found out I was having a girl I knew I was in trouble. KNEW I was in trouble. I've been the most prissy little thing on the block practically from birth myself. My mom taught me well, and I plan to do the same with my little one.

Now tutus are great. I never was a ballerina (pigeon toed plies don't work) but I loved to dress like one. Even if that meant tights under bathing suits, I did what it took. However, I don't recall having a tutu. My daughter won't have that problem. And neither will yours!

I was on Twitter one day rambling about wanting to buy a tutu at an affordable price when someone directed me to this tutu tutorial.

Wow, seriously, is it that freaking EASY?!

Yep.

I went to Hobby Lobby and bought two rolls of tulle.. The ones that are 25 feet by 6in for $2.99 each. THIS made it WAY easier. The tutorial doesn't mention these things!


I also bought a roll of elastic for under $2.


Cut the elastic. I measured it to be about 6-8 inches I believe using some other of Spawnie's clothing to gauge how wide to make it (waist size). It also stretches out a couple of inches after you add the tulle so be aware of that.


I stitched it together with my sewing machine. It's not working well right now but it was able to hang in there and stitch a half and inch back and forth for me in about 15 seconds.



All I had to do was cut the tulle twice the length I wanted it to be on the skirt.

Then loop the tulle around the elastic like so...


I wasn't a boyscout so I'm not sure the exact name of this knot but it's EASY! Just loop it under the elastic and pull the tulle through the other side. Doesn't matter which way the knot sits cause you can turn it before pulling it tight.


Do that over.


And over, and over!

TADA!!!

The only baby I had to model it at the time was a boy :( Don't worry, his parents knew this was for a project of mine, plus he loved it too! He's one so I think it can fit from infant up to about a one year old!


You can also add ribbon and flowers and fun things to them if you want. Mix and match the colors or make them solid colors, HAVE FUN with it!

*** NO SEW TIP***

If you don't want ANY sewing at all (cause of the elastic step in the beginning) you can use RIBBON instead. Satin ribbon works great, but make it EXTRA LONG so you can tie a pretty bow once it's on your little princess. Tie the tulle around the ribbon the same way as shown earlier then tie it around your little girl when it's all done! No sewing needed!!


The 2 rolls of tulle made two matching tutus so I gave one to a friend (with a baby girl) and Spawnie has the other waiting for her! I can't wait to show you another photo with her in it! Overall that cost me about $8 for two tutus... Not bad right?


THEN I went CRAZY and bought TONS of tulle on Ebay... TONS. Here's my tulle drawer And that's not all of it cause it was just 50% off at Hobby Lobby and I got 3 more rolls. Most of the tulle I bought on ebay was the same roll size (it cuts down on cutting SO MUCH) and I got several for about $1 and free shipping! So I've been making my little girl tutus for under $2 now and Spawnie has a collection of ooh, I think about 8 tutus so far. I've taken a break from tutu making to finish her room etc, but once I'm done I'll be back to upping her collection!

And now you can make some too!

Don't have time or patience to make you own tutu? I recommend Cutie Patutus! They have the most ADORABLE selection of tutus that are so elaborate I couldn't even begin to figure out how to make!

Next tutu I make for Spawnie I'll make a matching one for one of you to win! I usually have enough tulle for two but she doesn't need two duplicates, SO one of my blog followers who leaves a comment will be entered to win a matching tutu of Spawnie's! Colors not yet determined but I promise they'll be cute.
Want an extra entry? Participate in What I'm Makin(g) Monday. Post this button on your blog and link up your What I'm Making post!

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My Cutie Pa Tutu

Oh how I dreamed if the days long before having my daughter. I saw myself dolling her up and snapping photos. And now here I am, living that exact scenario almost daily. It's addicting. And the nice thing is she loves it too, and when we're done she's so pooped and ready for a long nap!

People joked with me before having my daughter and said she wouldn't get to wear all the clothes I was getting for her. Little did they know me! Lil' J has a new outfit on every day, and sometimes we do outfit changes midday, just because. We're getting use out of these clothes, that's for sure!

I'm a girlie girl and I imagine she'll grow up to be a tomboy because of all of the bows and dress froofroo I'm putting her in, she may be sick of by the time she's old enough to pick her own clothes.

Yesterday evening I took her out in the front yard and snapped a few photos in one of our favorite tutus.

I make a lot of her tutus myself, but I can't make them this cute, filled with the bright adorable little pom poms inside (so she can't eat them), and a bow facing correctly. This one is by Cutie Pa Tutus and it was specially made for her. The Ladybug theme goes perfect with her quilt, made by Lil' J's great-grandma, and her nickname.

Cutie Pa Tutus also recently launched their new adorable pa tutu onesies line with bling like this one, and they're just as affordable as their tutus. You can also get 20% off right now through the 15th by using the code: "babymakin".So here we were, my daughter in I. Lying on the grass, and playing. The sun was setting so the lighting was great, and I snapped a photo capturing this beautiful moment between my daughter and I. My eyes teared and my heart swelled when I looked down at my camera display showing my sweet little girl.

It blows my mind how fast my she is growing, and how much time we have yet to experience together, I pray, in this life, and know in the life to come.

I've always heard people say children are a blessing but I didn't realize exactly what they meant until I had my own.

I am so blessed. I'm living the dream.

Everyone who comments on this post before October 14th at 11:59pm will be entered to win a pa tutu of choice from Cutie Pa Tutu. For an extra entry follow them on Facebook and/or Twitter.
*Thanks Cutie Pa Tutu for sponsoring the review/giveaway!

Little Ms. Claus Dress: What I'm Makin' Monday

Monday is almost over, but I figured it's better I post it today than next Monday when it's WAY after Christmas! I'm so proud of my creation!

I can't take all of the crecit cause I got an idea to make a dress like this after seeing a similar one by my friend Jess's sister who own's the shop Our Little Tutus. So if you think you can't make one of these, you can buy one for under $30!

I saw a picture of her Santa tutu dress and decided to create one with the flair of a pettiskirt. So I made a tutu pettiskirt style dress using tulle, ribbon, a red crocheted baby beanie and headband and feathers/more tulle.

I made it by hand sewing together a red baby beanie I opened up to a wide baby headband.

Then I made the tutu dress like I explained in this tutorial. Then I tied small white strips to the ends of the red tulle skirt to make it look like a mock pettiskirt.

I added more frill by hand stitching a feather boa-like embellishment to the top front of the dress bodice. Note: DON'T stitch it all around. I did that at first and forgot that she'd have to fit in it. The bodice gives but the feather's didn't so I had to undo half of my stitching around the back.

After a photoshoot with the feather's I realized baby drool and feathers don't mix so I went back and tied white tulle to the top of the bodice (the same way I did with the red around the bottom) and trimmed it all down to the same length.

I added a black satin ribbon as the Ms. Claus belt with a rhinestone buckle (I found at Hobby Lobby).

TADA!

Toddler Valentines Fashion and Treats

This will be Lil' J's second Valentines Day but her first one at a school. So because this is also a significant "first" I want to make it special and do the whole Valentines shebang for her class.

Good news is I have Mondays and Tuesdays off, which Valentines Eve and Valentines Day fall on this year. So it'll give me a chance to pretend like I'm an awesome Suzie Homemaker and make treats with her, for her class.

Here are a few ideas I've been scoping off Pinterest:

Valentines Whoopie Pies

Happy Valentines Day for "Crayon" out loud. Vday Crayons

Kisses and Hugs Cupcakes

 

Lovely butterfly suckers

There's more where that came from, and cute outfits I want to try to make on my Mini Love board. The suckers seem like they involve more drawing/writing than cooking, which is good, and it has traditional candy, but I don't know what all of the parents will think about the candy. Cupcakes on the other hand... that's not so bad right? And whoopie pie (is that seriously what those things are called?)! Yum! I can just picture the messy hands and smiling faces chowing down on those things. But I have a feeling it wouldn't be the easiest to make, or shape as cute as the ones pictured.
The crayons are just perfect, and I think I'll do that for the cute factor, and have Lil' J help me put them in heart-shaped pans. Maybe I'll do those and the whoopies since we'll have a pan to make those shapes and she loves "cookin" (she says this now when we're in the kitchen and she wants to put something in the oven. I can't believe she's my child).

When it comes to clothing, we're getting there. I was hoping she'd wear Valentines outfits to school from mid-January through Valentines Day but that hasn't quite happened. I've only had time to make her one dress so far so I've called on reinforcements.

Lil' J's first tutu was from Cutie Pa Tutu, and now dozens of tutus later, I still haven't seen any made like hers. We got these this week and the first thing she said when she saw them was "BALL" (in her thick country accent it sounds more like "bawl") cause of the the little puff balls enclosed inside the tulle.

When she walked into school wearing this her teachers squealed and said they were wondering when she was going to start showing up in all of her Valentines gear.

All she wanted to do was blow bubbles when we were outside and I couldn't get her to set the dang thing down. She did take a break from blowing bubbles to blow me a kiss though.

SWAK Sealed With a Kiss Tutu and Lovely Lipstick Top

And of course you need to have just as much pink as you have red:

 

I had to take photos of her pink outfit before she wears it to school cause I'm sure she'll come home in a mess.--Which is ok because it means she's having fun.

Cutie Pa Tutu is having a Sweetheart Sale, so everything she's wearing and holding (aside from the bubbles) are on sale there.

In case you're wondering where to find it all here are links:

Sweet Pinks Pa Tutu

SWAK Sealed with a Kiss Pa Tutu

Pink Hearts Ying Yang Top

Pixy Tail Pony

Pink and Hot Pink Bow

Poofy Pom Pom Magic Wand

Pa Tutu Tights

Lipstick Love Top

Now between this and a few other things I'm working on, she should have something pink and LOVEly to wear until the 14th.

Are you loving these outfits? What are you plans for Valentines Day? Going to make something yummy or cute for school or work treats? Share the love in a comment and you'll be entered to win a Valentine Pa Tutu Outfit w/matching wand and Pixie Tail or Bow.

Since Vday is around the corner we have to make this quick so this giveaway ends midnight Tuesday February 7th. Enter using the Rafflecopter widget (below). Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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