Quick No-Sew Tutu for your Puppet
Simple Materials
Make a sweet little tutu for your girl puppet from inexpensive supplies. For about $3 you can make a no-sew tutu if you purchase your tulle on a roll on sale. This tutu can be made fuller by adding an extra row of tulle. I chose to make this tutu to add volume to the skirt of this polka dot t-shirt dress made from my t-shirt pattern. The bonus t-shirt dress pattern is perfect for a feminine character.
For supplies you need a lace headband from the dollar store, and tulle on a roll from your favorite craft store. I went to Dollar Tree and JoAnn fabrics. The headbands come in a pack of three for $1.25. The tulle roll was $1.47 on sale. I suggest avoiding the glitter tulle since glitter would be hard to remove from the legs as it sheds. If the legs are fur then it might be ok, because you can clean the fur with a wig brush.
These elastic headbands just barely fit the Project Puppet Alternate Body torso. It’s a tad tight, so step one is to stretch the head band a bit before and after you add the tulle strips.
We’re going to use the holes on one edge to thread the tulle. The technique we are going to use reminds me of making latch hook rugs in the 80’s. Yeah for the eighties! We don’t need the latch hook tool. You can just use your fingers. No sewing either.
Construction Steps
Cut your tulle into 10″ (or 25cm) lengths. I needed 33 pieces for mine. You’ll need as many as you have holes on the edge row.
Take a piece of tulle and fold in half to create a loop. Thread this loop into one of the holes on the edge of your elastic. The cut ends are then threaded through the loop and pulled taut.
You are going to repeat this process in every edge hole with a new length of tulle. If it bunches up your elastic, pull on the edge of the elastic to loosen the grip of the knot and help it lay flat again.
After you finish one row, check to see if it is as full as you desire. For my purposes, one row was fine since it only needed to puff out the skirt.
Yep. It’s that easy!
Buy t-shirt dress pattern HERE
The t-shirt dress is the perfect fit for the classic Project Puppet Alternate Body. You can purchase this t-shirt dress pattern here on my website by clicking the button above.
The torso pattern is available by clicking the button below.
The t-shirt pattern and t-shirt dress pattern has detailed instructions with lots of photos and illustrations to coach you through making your own custom puppet clothes. Need some leggings or jeans? That pattern will be next! Stay tuned by signing up for our newsletter.
I’d love to see your no-sew tutu. Send a photo to pam@lapuppets.com
If you sew the dress, I’d REALLY love to see that!
