Adult Tutu DIY - No Sew

This tutorial is showing how easy it is to make a no-sew adult tutu. I wish I'd have made a pink tutu for my daughter when she was young. Instead, she asked me (as a grown young adult) to make one for her and a friend for a relay they're running soon. I started and finished both pink tutus today.

Anyone can make a no-sew adult tutu. Here's how I did it:

For each adult tutu you'll need: 

• 2 yards of hot pink tulle and 2 yards of white tulle
• 5 yards 1" wide pink grosgrain ribbon
• sewing scissors
• tape
• straight pins
• sewing graph board
• a few basic stitches on the sewing machine or by hand if desired

Fold the ribbon lengthwise in half. Cut to create two lengths at 7 1/2 ft each. Tape off ends of ribbon with clear tape to prevent unraveling. 

Sandwich ribbon sections together. Fold in half and mark center with a straight pin. From that point, position another stick pin 15 inches off each center (for a 30" waist). This is a good medium to start from, the actual waistline can be easily adjusted to accomodate the wearer. ** See notes at bottom of article.

Next, sew the ribbon sections together down the middle to give the waistband more substance or strength. To do this...at sewing machine, sew a straight stitch across the 1" ribbon at each marked edge of the 30 inch section. Next sew a zigzag stitch centered horizontally the length of the ribbon between the two previous stitchings. (Ribbons will now be sewn together for a 30" length centered with the remaining ends hanging loose.)

 

Time to cut the 54" wide tulle. (The sewing board was handy and made the job go much quicker.)

This was my first time dealing with so much yardage of tulle and I found it a little tricky. So, I simply cut off 1 yard at a time and worked with that.

Smooth out one yard piece of tulle and keep it folded in half (as it comes from the bolt.) Now, fold this piece UP lengthwise in half and then fold in half again. (As shown in pic below, you'll now be working with a piece that is 36" long and approximately 6" or so folded in height.)

Cut through all layers every 4 inches along this tulle, giving you 9 pieces for each 1 yard section. (4" x 9" = 36" = 1 yard, right?)

 

FOR EACH ADULT TUTU you will need a total of 4 yards of tulle.

 

There has been a lot of questions regarding the length of the adult tutu. I've tried to simplify this the best I know how...

 

This next step YOU will determine the length of the tutu:

 

FOR 6 1/2" LONG TUTU

 

IF you want a tutu that is 6 1/2" long from the waist then fold each of the 9 pieces of 4" wide tulle exactly in half and cut along the fold giving you 18 pieces of tulle that measure 4" wide x approximately 13" long. (Your pieces may be a tad longer depending on the tulle you use....my tulle was supposed to be 54" wide, but it wasn't exactly so.)

 

FOR 12" - 13" LONG TUTU

 

If you want the tutu to be approx 12 to 13" long, DO NOT cut the 4" wide pieces in half. For each 1 yard section this leaves you with 9 pieces of tulle measuring 4" wide x approximately 24" to 26" long.

Continue cutting the remaining yardage in this same manner. 

 

Align one each of the pink and white tulle strips in your hand. Fold in half together and form a loop.

Slip the loop underneath a portion of the ribbon that is sewn together. (First portion of your slipknot.) Then continue making the slipknot by inserting the ends of the tule through the loop and pull to tighten over the ribbon. (see below what it should look like)

Secure ribbon with pins into your sewing board to hold in place while making your slipknots OR use something like the mannequin I have (shown below) to make it even easier. (Actually you could also probably tie the ribbon ends securely to two opposing, sturdy objects while you work on it, if necessary.) 

Continue making slipknots all along the length of the zigzag waist portion of the ribbon and allow the end portions to move freely to be tied into a pretty bow when worn. 

** Note I used 30 inches as a guesstimate. The adult tutu can be sized to custom fit by either spreading the strips of tulle a bit apart on the ribbon or squishing the strips closer together. Adjust the sewn poriton of the ribbon waistline according to the approximate size of the wearer when starting this project. 

I'm so tickled how these no-sew adult tutus turned out. Really a quick project. Now my only problem was how to get these in one box for priority mailing without smashing? Well, space bags of course! lol

I smoothed the two no-sew adult tutus with my hands, and with the help of my husband got them in the space bag. Now all the girls have to do is remove them and give them a good shake and they'll bounce right back into marvelous pink fluffiness! :)