Tutu fabulous.

Tutu’s are described by the Urban Dictionary as a “frilly looking skirt, made of tulle and worn by ballerinas and cool people”. I don’t know how ‘cool’ they really are, but lets face it they are fun to wear, for any age..

Rainbow Tutu

This particular tutu is made by knotting the netting around the elastic waistband, a technique widely broadcast on You Tube. In most of the videos the tulle strips are made from tulle ribbon. In the UK this is not as widely available in the local fabric shop, but if you want to find some try a florists wholesaler instead.

TOP TIP: Wash the netting first and it softens a little, but DO NOT Iron it .. 

First make the waistband.

Measure the waist and add 2.5cms. Overlap the elastic by the 2.5cm and sew in place using an elastic stitch or by hand.

Cut the strips of net.

To work out how long to cut each strip of net you need to work out the length of the skirt and times by 2. Add a further 4 cm for the knot that goes round the elastic.  Now cut enough strips for 3 knots per inch, give or take. In the picture I used two strips together, so I would calculate for 6 strips per inch.  This is a little hit and miss, although if you by a bit extra its not the end of the world really?

Next knot the strips around the elastic. The video shows how to do this best.

This skirt would also look great in organza.  So get making and let us all see!! 

Enjoy!!

A few other tutu's to inspire you, notice the big smiles.

My fabulous godmother in her brilliant tutu!!

Our 'Hen' in her fetching tutu and veil... 

Getting The Bunting Ready..

The sun is shining and we are all hoping that this summer is going to be hot. With Bank holidays, the Jubilee and the Olympics what better way to get ready for a truly British summer than by getting the bunting ready? Or at least starting it in plenty of time!

According to Wikipedia, Bunting was originally a specific type of lightweight wool, used to make flags and ribbons. It was used to make signal flags for the Navy, and the officer responsible for raising the signals was called a “bunt” Today it can be seen in vintage fabrics, papers and plastic. It can be as easy as cutting out coloured paper and attaching it to ribbons, using glue or even staples. I am going to show you how I make bunting. It looks beautiful as the flags hold their shape well in the wind and last out in the rain, it is a British summer after all.

Beautiful Bunting

How do I know how much to make?
I normally expect to have 3.5 flags per meter. When I measure the space I want to bunt I add 20cm per meter if I want to swag my bunting. So if a window is 2 meters long. I make 2.4 meters of bunting. That’s 9 Flags, 18 triangles of fabric. If worried, make more, you can always cut off the excess bunting, or use somewhere else.

What do I need? 
To make the bunting you need some fabric, wonderweb seam tape, an iron, sewing machine and bias binding or ribbon.


Ready Steady Sew…

How the bunting triangle will look.
The green lines show the finished size. 

 Firstly I draw my template for the flags. Easiest way to do this is to draw a straight line 26.5cm long. At the top of this line mark 12.5cm either side to make a T. Now draw the diagonals to meet at the end of the line. All done! This flag will give you a seam allowance of 1.5cm. Remember you can make your flags any shape, even make them smaller if you need to.

Now cut out the flags from the fabric. I make my flags double sided so you will need to cut two fabric flags for every flag on the bunting.

Cut the wonderweb tape to the same length as one side of the triangle and fold the fabric over the top to make a crisp edge. Iron the folded edge in place following the directions on the packet. Repeat on the other side.

Next take the two flags, wrong sides together and stitch about 5mm from the edge. Repeat as many times as you need to.

When ready start laying the flags onto the bias tape and pin in place. I tend to leave about 10cms between each flag. Have some fun and work out if there is a pattern to the flags before you start sewing. Think about colours and textures. That’s all there is to it.












 I often hang the bunting out, but for the jubilee I’m planning something special, I’ll keep you posted.

This was for the World Cup Breakfast we hosted.

Halloween, during the day...

And at night....