Sweet Strawberry Tutorial

I so enjoyed making M's Strawberry costume this year and wanted to share a few tips in case anyone else wants to make a Tutu Dress.  I started with the Sassy Girls Tutorial and modified it to suit our situation.

Supplies:  These assume a large one year old/average 2 year old -- If your child is taller you will need more tulle and longer satin ribbon.


40 Yards Red Tulle Ribbon (6 inches wide)
20 Yards Glitter or Shimmer Red Tulle Ribbon (6 inches wide)
20 Yards Green Tulle Ribbon (probably used about half of this)
1 to 1.5 inch elastic - should be about 1-2 inches longer than the circumference of the child's chest
1.5 yards Green Satin Ribbon
1 package Black Sequins
Mini-Glue Dots®


Optional: Green T-shirt, Red Tights, Green Hat & White Flower (or felt leaves)


Instructions:


1.  Measure the circumference of child's chest and distance from mid point of chest to the floor.  Use the first measurement to determine how much elastic you need. Then double the second measurement and add two inches to determine  the length of the red strips.  


2. Cut red tulle (both kinds)  into strips using the above measurements.  I was not nearly as precise as the tutorial and ended up really liking that not every piece was the same length.  It ended up giving a nice fullness to the middle and taper down as with a real strawberry.  Also, the glitter tulle is not as flexible so you make need to make slightly longer strips to account for the amount used in the knot.  (Check out the Sassy Tutorial for more details on this).


3.  Next, cut out the green strips.  I made mine approximately eight inches long. If they were much shorter I think it would be hard to tie.


4.  Overlap the ends of the elastic strip and sew tightly. This can be done by hand or with a machine.  Some suggest stapling, but I worry that it would scratch her.


5.  At this point, I just began tying on the strips.  I usually did a group of three red strips, folded in half and tied around the elastic followed by two strips of green tied "up" the opposite direction.  I mixed the glitter tulle in amongst the regular tulle randomly for additional sparkle and visual interest.  Continue all the way around the band and try to keep the knots tight and close together to create fullness in the dress and prevent the elastic from showing.  (You might want to put the band around a bucket or other tube for stability while tying).


6. Comb through the tulle with your fingers and have your model try on the dress if possible.  This will allow for trimming out any particularly long pieces of tulle and making sure everything looks right.


7.  Adhere one Mini-Glue Dots® to the back of a sequin and press onto the tulle.  I added a lot of sequins this way very quickly.  I think probably around 50, but it is up to you.  They stuck well and help distinguish the strawberry from a tomato (some people were confused before I added the sequins).


6.  Finally, it is time to attach the straps.  (Note: You could, possibly leave off straps as with a regular tutu, but I found that without straps M would occasionally step on pieces of tulle and pull the dress down to her waist where it proceeded to drag the ground.)  First, have the child put on the dress.  Then,  find the center of the satin ribbon and attach looping the ends around the elastic on the back of the dress in the same knot you were using for the tulle pieces.  Bring one strap over each shoulder.  Loop each end under the elastic strap.  Then pull through until the straps are taught on the child's shoulders.  Finally, tie a regular knot and bow with the remaining ribbon on the front of the dress.  I chose this over the halter option as it let me adjust the length of the dress and also added a nice detail to the front of the dress.


There you have a lovely Strawberry Tutu Dress ready for Halloween, dress-up or photo fun.


Bonus ideas:


We were wearing M's to go trick-or-treating and it was way too cool to not have clothes underneath.  We added a long sleeved green t-shirt (from boy's section at Target) and thick red tights (from Old Navy).  In picking out the underclothes it might help to have sample tulle from the green and red pieces of the dress so you can come closer to matching.


We also found adorable red sparkly mary janes at Target.  They are almost always available and are so fun.


Hat/head piece - We considered several options here and I think any of these would work:

• Large Green Bow -- might add a stem to the center with felt
• Cut out leaves from felt adhere together with glue dots or sew together.  This could be attached to the child's head either with an alligator clip, sewn to an elastic band or added to a hat.
• White strawberry flower -- added to one of the other options or on its own.  Attached with an alligator clip.
• Green hat/beret with or without flower, stem, or leaves.

Due in part to time constraints, we ended up with the green crocheted looking beret and a large white flower most of the time.  Underneath, we pulled her hair back from her face with a small green bow for when she inevitably pulled the hat off.  All very cute.

We also considered making a similar costume out of white tulle and putting a ghost face made out of black sparkle felt on her tummy which would have made for a girly fun ghost.  I have seen similar ideas with a pumpkin and even Mrs. Clause.  One possibility is wrapping the top edge of the tutu in satin ribbon rather than having the contrasting color of tulle. This might make it more comfortable to wear against the skin and is how I normally see tutus.

I wrote this blog post while participating on the Glue Dots design team.