TuTu for infants and toddlers - homemade

This Christmas I did a Secret Santa with a photo group I'm part of. The person who I got wanted some photo props. She included a "tutu" in her wish list. I looked and looked for a tutu to buy, but wasn't really impressed with any I saw. I don't like the kind where you tie on tulle around the elastic. They aren't as full to me. Growing up dancing I wanted a dance tutu! I decided I would have to make it myself to get what I wanted and not pay a fortune.


This is my SON - ha - wearing the tutu. I should have taken off his pj's so you can see it better. Whoops. He is a small 14 month old in this picture. The tutu is made to fit a one year old give or take a few months.


This tutu only has 6 layers of tulle. Each are individually gathered and sewn together to make a beautiful, full of body, tutu. I mixed dark pink and light pink (although it looks like white) to get a mix of colors. I added a satin waistband to hide the elastic.

While it was a pain to keep all the layers of tulle together while sewing, it was totally worth the outcome! I hope many wonderful photo's will come from the help of this tutu.

Home at last!

I left my home December 9th for holiday travel and just returned home last night - January 18th. Long trip. Good to be home. Tired.

We had a homemade Christmas exchange this year so I want to share some ideas. Look forward to many projects up ahead.

Happy New Year!

We are now on the last leg of our holiday travels. 17 more days to go and we'll be home. I sure wonder if my son even remembers what his own bed looks or feels like. . . .

I have been working on a few projects while away: tutu's, lunch bags, hand bags, taking in the waist band of jeans, and more hemming. I have pictures and posts will follow, until then -

Happy New Year!

Happy Holiday's

I just wanted to drop a note and let you all know I'm headed out of town for 5 weeks. I'm not sure if I'll have time to post or not while I'm away. Holiday travel and visiting family is next on my agenda.

Happy Holiday's!!

Hemming Jeans - keeping the original hem, Method #2

As many of you may remember, I made a post a few months ago on how to hem jeans keeping the original hem . If you have forgotten, you can check it out here.

I have hemmed a few pairs of jeans that way and really like the outcome. However, it does take a bit of time. So today I tried another method for hemming jeans and keeping the original hem at the same time. I thought I would share:

Step 1:
Try your jeans on to decide exactly how much you need to take off. Divide that number in half and fold jeans up (bottom will be wrong side out). I took 3 inches off my jeans, so I folded them up 1 1/2 inches. Pin around both pant legs directly under the original hem.


Ste 2:
Use a zipper foot to sew a seam next to the old hem line. Do not catch any of the old hem! It will not lay correctly.


Step 3:
Iron your seam flat. Do this by laying your hem down and extra fabric up.


Step 4:
Once your hem is pressed flat, top stitch above the hem (the upper side of your first stitch line). This will give your pants a more finished look and will help your hem lay flat.


Step 5:
Cut away the extra fabric. You can zig-zag stitch the unfinished edge to help keep fray in check. I did not do this in the picture.


Finished!

I tried this method out on a pair of jeans I wanted to wear today. It was very quick! Can't beat that. The finished look is okay, but I still prefer my first method's appearance seen HERE . You can be the judge and pick the method you prefer! Good luck and enjoy those new pants!