Ballerina Tutu Dress DIY

What do you get when you add a tutu skirt to a simple tank? A ballerina tutu dress of course! Perfect for an easy handmade Easter dress, that everyone will LOVE. What little girl doesn’t love a tutu after all? You can make this dress in under 2 hours, with no serger required.  Let me show you how to DIY.

Ballerina Tutu Dress DIY.

Skill level: Advanced Beginner

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MATERIALS:

• Tank Top
• 3 yards tulle
• 1 yard knit fabric (for under skirt)
• Basic sewing essentials
• *Optional, 1 yard 1/4″ elastic

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HOW TO:

Step One: To cut the under skirt, lay your tank top on top of your knit fabric, at the tank top’s natural waist. Cut the skirt to your desired length. The width of the skirt should be in between double to triple the width of your tank top. Cut (1) under skirt pattern piece.

Step Two: Fold your skirt in half, right sides together, matching up the side seam. Pin and sew.

Step Three: With your tulle folded in half along the top edge, sew a line of gathering stitches along the top edge of the full 3 yards. Gently pull the bobbin thread to gather stitches. You want the tulle to be approximately the same width as your under skirt.

Step Four: With the under skirt right side out, place tulle around the top edge of your skirt pinning to secure. The side edges of your tulle should meet up at the back under skirt seam. Sew around, using a long baste stitch to secure.

Step Five: Turn your skirt wrong side out, so that the tulle in inside of the under skirt tube. With your tank top right side out, slip it inside of the top of your skirt, so that the straps are going in first, and the bottom of your tank top is sticking out of the skirt top. Pin the skirt to your tank top at the tank’s natural ‘waist’.

Step Six: Using a stretch stitch, or zig zag stitch, sew the skirt to the tank, stretching the tank top while you sew to meet the width of the skirt. You may trim the bottom of the tank top off when you are finished, but I kept it long so that the tulle would not touch my daughter’s tummy and make her itch.

*Optional, Step Seven: If you feel as though you have stretched the tank too much in the previous step – you can bring it back in by adding 1/4″ elastic to the waist. Simply cut a piece of elastic the same width as your tank. Trim your waist seam so that it is 3/4″, press up and pin in place. Sew around the top of your waist seam allowance using a stretch stitch and of course stretching while you sew.  This will create a casing for your elastic. Leave a 2″ opening. With a safety pin attached to one end of the elastic, slip the elastic in your waist casing and pull all the way through. Sew the elastic ends together, slip fully inside casing, and finish sewing top of casing closed.

And you are finished!

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Thanks so much for stopping by, and until next time…

Happy Sewing!