SEW THIS: Tutus for a Ballerina-Princess!

More baby gifts! Lovely little tutus... So sweet and fun and girly. (All my pregnant friends are having girls... so it's all girly projects. I think if they were all having boys, we'd be sunk. I'm not so good at boy stuff. I am, after all, the girl who bought a pink rhinestone collar for her male dog. My husband, boyfriend at the time, made me exchange it for something more manly, but after a long argument in the collar aisle of PetSmart compromised with a red rhinestone collar. But I digress...)
What little girl doesn't want to be a ballerina or a princess, or booooooth when they grow up??? (For me, it was one of those two professions... or a Marine Biologist. I wanted to play with Shamu at SeaWorld, but again, I digress...) So Ballerina-Princess it is in this sweet little apron style tutu. I've even included the easy directions and some pictures below... how lucky are you???

(SPOILER ALERT: If you are pregnant, have recently birthed a child or plan to within the next year or so, you very well could be gazing upon your gift as you peruse through these photos. Should you desire the element of surprise... look no further!)

You need:

50 in. of 1.5" pink satin ribbon

A strip 1 in wide and 14 in. long fusible interfacing

3 strips of tulle 10 in. wide and 50 in. long (I used 2 pale pink, one hot pink)

Sewing machine all threaded in PINK!

(I made this tutu to fit a baby... 3-6 mo. it can easily be made larger... no problem!!!)

1. Lay the three strips of tulle on top of each other and pin to secure. (optional, you can scallop the edges for a fluffier effect). Use a large basting (gathering) stitch and sew long ways right down the middle of the tulle strips. (do not clip threads from ends) Fold the tulle in half on the line you have sewed.

2. Find the center of your piece of ribbon, and match to the center of the interfacing, and attach the fusible interfacing to the back side of the ribbon starting in the middle.

Fold ribbon in half lengthwise and iron (just across interfacing area).

3. Find the center of your ribbon one again and pin on the wrong side to the center of the folded tulle strip. Pin the ends of the tulle to the ends of the interfacing strip.

4. Gather tulle by pulling the threads at the end, pin gathers to the ribbon as you go. (This will take a little time and work wiggling and evening out gathers to get it to look just right! Be patient!) Sew the tulle to the ribbon using a basting stitch about 1/4 inch from the edge of the ribbon. It should look like this:

5. Fold the ribbon in half over the top of the tulle and top stitch.

Now... tie your ends around a little ballerina/princess and in a big bow in the back! Charming!

Oh, and remember these from the baby shoes post? Um... HELLO! Made. For. Each. Other.

I designed it that way. It was my mastermind plan to overcome you with cuteness! Did it work? Was I successful??? I love this! Almost makes me wish I had a little girl to dress up! (ALMOST!!! For now I'll just borrow someone else's.)