Mermaid Tail Tutu Tutorial

Even my one and a half year old loves mermaids! You should hear her say it, it's so cute! I made this for daughter #1's 3rd birthday. She will not wear it but also will not let me give it away. Makes me wonder what goes on in her little head...

The pictures above show the front and back of the tutu. Here's how I did it.

What you need:

1/2" wide no roll elastic
28 strips of 18" long tulle
20 strips of 36" long tulle

About the materials:

My elastic band is about 19" in diameter.

To get 20 strips of 6.5" wide and 36" long tulle you'll need to buy about 2 yards of 52" inch wide stuff that is on the bolts. Or you could buy one 25 yard spool of 6" wide tulle.

To get 28 strips of 6.5" wide and 18" long tulle you'll need to buy about 1 1/2 yards of 52" inch wide tulle. Or you can buy one 25 yard spool of 6" wide tulle.

If you want to use more than one color you'll have to figure out how much of each color you need. You want the lengths of the colors to be at least 36" for the tail and 18" for the front, so don't get less cut if you buy from the bolts. If this is at all confusing, please, just buy the spools. :)

What you do:

1. Sew the elastic into a loop overlapping the ends about 1" or so. You can do this with a sewing machine or by hand.

2. Cut the tulle into the lengths I mentioned above. Tie the 18" lengths on in a row, I staggered the ends on my tutu. Fold the 36" lengths in half and tie them on all in a row. (This is going to be the tail.)

Here are a couple images to help you understand how to tie on the tulle.

Fold the strip in half and pull the ends through the loop around the elastic. I put the elastic loop around my thigh to make it easier.


3. Use some of the extra strips you cut for this next step. You'll notice in my poor quality pictures that my 'tulle' looks more like nylon net. It is. I don't recommend using net though... but I figured this one would give you the basic idea of what I did.

-Find the middle 6 strips of your tail. They should be 9 strips in on each side from your 18" lengths. Bundle them together with a strip of tulle about 4" down from the waist band. (My tie is in the magenta color.)



- Take the next four strips on either side of the bundle and use another piece of tulle to tie the tail about 2" below the place where you tied the 6 strips. (My thumb nail is at the point where I made the bundle.) Notice that I'm including the first bundle into this one.



- You should have 5 strips of 36" long tulle left. Take those strips and make another bundle about 2" below the last one. (My thumb nail is at the place where I tied and I made one big bundle of all the strips.)



- Divide any length that is poking out into two and tie each half with tulle scraps to make the points of the tail.



Yes, well, that should do it. Now you know why the tutus in the stores cost so much! All the cutting and tying takes time folks. :)

If you make one send me pics! If you want to make and sell these, please let me know first. Thanks!

(I learned how to make a tutu from here... http://mamasdoodles.blogspot.com/2007/08/tutu-tutorial-tuturial.html )