DIY Fairy Tutu for Spring and Halloween

This tutu is designed as a princess flower fairy costume. I made it with my eldest girlish, sweet, and gentle granddaughter in mind, her personality is so soft and feminine all the time so this suits her very well. This thick and extravagant tutu is perfect for our very feminine little girl. When I first saw it on her, I knew I wouldn’t change a thing.

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How Much Tulle for a No Sew Tutu

The amount of tulle you need will depend more on how long and thick you want it to be than the size of the child. The waist size doesn’t matter as much because the waistband is very elastic. A tutu with a full skirt made of many layers looks nicer than a thin whispy tutu does. For this long tutu, I used 412 yards of six-inch wide strips of precut tulle. If you want to make one less expensive, consider shortening the tulle skirt a little bit.

To calculate how much tulle you need for your little girl’s tutu begin by measuring for height.

To do this measure from the underarm to the floor and then subtract five inches, this leaves the bottom of the tutu off the ground just a little bit.

Next, double the height measurement for folding, and add two inches for the knot.

My granddaughter is a tall little girl. To make her tutu 34 inches long, I doubled the length to 68 inches and added two inches for the knot. So, in this case, I cut the tulle into 70-inch strips.

Take the length – multiply by the number of strips (225) to get how many yards of tulle you need. The rolls of tulle come in different sizes according to yardage. This is what I used.

White tulle -380 yards (195 strips of tulle each 70″ long)

Pink tulle – 20 yards (20 strips of tulle each 40″long)

Green tulle – 12 yards ( 10 strips of tulle each 40″ long)

This adorable tutu skirt is elaborate enough for a wedding in the soft colors of Spring. You could use it for an amazing Halloween costume as well, but I would choose darker colors. The fabric store has lots of different colors of tulle to choose from.

No Sew Tulle Tutu Supplies

Besides the rolls of tulle, you will need.

• 1 adult-size elastic crochet headband, or a crochet tube top if you can find one. My elastic band has 65 roles across and 10 rows down.
• Assorted coordinating flowers
• Wide fabric ribbon for a belt
• Cardboard, measuring tape, scissors, crochet hook, needle, and thread.

How to Size the No-Sew Tutu Costume

The waist of the tutu is very elastic and will fit most 4 to 10-year-olds. But as little girls’ heights vary so much you will need to measure for height and decide the perfect length for your tutu.

How to Cut the Tulle

Please save yourself an immense amount of time and make a cardboard template for cutting your tulle. Make the length of the cardboard half the length of the tulle you need. In my case, that’s 35 inches.

Mark one end of the cardboard. Start the tulle at that end and flip the cardboard twice for each length of tulle needed. I made ten strips at a time by wrapping the cardboard template in counts of twenty, and then carefully cutting the tulle at one end.

Attach the Tulle to the Elastic Waistband

Once cut take the strip of tulle and fold it in half matching the end of the tulle together to find the center for the top loop.

At the other end grab the top loop and pull it through the hole of the headband.

The holes in my headband are quite small.

1. Instead of stretching the headband to accommodate my fingers. I pulled the tulle through the headband using a large crochet hook.
2. Then I wrapped my fingers through the loop, grabbed the ends
3. Pulled the tulle strip through.
4. Attached tulle strip

To begin attach the first length of tulle at the seam, the third row from the bottom. Workaround tying a piece of tulle into each hole of the headband. Repeat for two more rows. You will end up with 3 rows of white tulle.

Make the Tulle Petal Overlays

Once you have the three rows of white ready, make 5 petals, that spread evenly around the tutu. Here is a chart of the color placement for each petal. Imagine each square is a hole in the headband.

Once the tulle is attached.

Repeat for the other four blossoms.

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Finishing

To finish the DIY tutu skirt, I suggest placing it around the back of a chair to stabilize it. Then take each strip and straighten it out. Sew assorted blossoms around the bottom of the tulle as you choose. I purchased little matching cotton camisoles to tuck into the fairy tutu, making it comfortable and they wore light-coloured shorts underneath.

The little princess fairy tutu comes with a floral crown.  Here is a closer look.

The second tutu I made is for a forest fairy and is posted here.)