There was a Halloween-themed race in our area on Saturday last, with a separate costume contest for the Little Monsters, of course. The bigger monsters were also encouraged to come in costume - so I did! I've done other runs in costume, but hadn't done a tutu yet. But they are getting really popular, so I thought, why not?
The tutu itself is incredibly simple and offers a lot of variation for costumes, theme runs, and similar silliness. The craziest part? People will charge $30 or more to make them, when they are SO simple to make yourself!! So (being the cheap, crafty type that I am) I set about doing some research (Pinterest, of course) and buying some tulle :)
What you will need:
- Tulle - you'll need 2-8 yds of tulle. Comes in tons of colors, as well as shiny and glittered varieties. I used 2yds each of 3 colors (black, purple, shiny orange).
- It's an inexact science to figure out how much you need, but rule of thumb: More tulle = Fluffier tutu.
- You probably want the finer mesh tulle - less scratching as you're running. But, personal preferences and all that.
- ALTERNATIVE: tulle ribbon. These are found in the wedding/floral sections of the craft stores. Probably need about 4 spools, judging from other instructions I found out on the Internet. I just used tulle off the bolt - required more cutting, but cheaper and had the colors I wanted.
- Ribbon - long enough to go around your waist and tie securely.
- ALTERNATIVE: elastic. 1/2 to 1 inch wide elastic works just fine. Don't really want to go narrower than that - you are running in it after all, and want it to be at least a little sturdy. If you're using elastic, you'll also need needle and thread.
- Scissors
What you do next:
- If you are using tulle-on-a-spool, that's easy - it's already at the width you want, so you'll just cut it to the length you want. Remember - 2x the length of the skirt.
- If you are using tulle from the bolt, fold the piece of fabric so that it is length you want, and then cut into strips.
3. To attach the bundles of tulle, you tie it on using your choice of knots. Some instructions just tied on the tulle with an overhand knot, but most used the Lark's Head knot (even if they didn't know what it was called). The Lark's Head is the 'up, over, and pull-through' knot, about as simple a knot as you can get. Yay for learning this stuff in Girl Scouts! I'm not going to explain it any more, because there are tons of clearer directions out there with videos and diagrams and all (including in one set of the instructions below), so I'm sure you can find one that is clear to you.
4. Since I was doing a no-sew version, I was attaching my tulle to a length of ribbon, long enough to go around my hips and tie. I started attaching my tulle in the middle of the ribbon and worked out from there, adding bundles on each side. The more tightly squeezed in your knots are, the more tulle your skirt will have, and the puffier it will be.
5. Keep adding tulle until you run out of space or of tulle. I had ended up not cutting my strips evenly, so I had more orange and black than purple. I added a few bundles of black and orange (and even just a few orange-only), but they blend right in. There's so much color and movement in the skirt anyway, that a little unevenness like that won't show :)
6. Ta-da! You're done! Go tie it on and have some fun :)
5. Keep adding tulle until you run out of space or of tulle. I had ended up not cutting my strips evenly, so I had more orange and black than purple. I added a few bundles of black and orange (and even just a few orange-only), but they blend right in. There's so much color and movement in the skirt anyway, that a little unevenness like that won't show :)
6. Ta-da! You're done! Go tie it on and have some fun :)
Other references I used (there are 1,000,001 different instructions for tutus out there; these are a few I looked at for research, in no particular order):
- Idiot Runner Girl
- Sparkling Fashion
- The Hair Bow Company
- Hyvaa Paivaa Textiles (don't worry, it's in English)
- My Happiness Redefined
- Cut Out and Keep
- Healthful MD - very good description of the Lark's Head knot too, if you're unfamiliar with it.
And then the race itself!
The skirt was the final piece in my costume which also included striped knee-high Halloween socks and a hairband with a tiny witch's hat. So cute, and only $1 at Target!
If anyone asks, I chose the ribbon with the apples because witches and poison apples and the whole deal. But really, it was the first one I grabbed out of my stash that didn't clash completely :)
Thoughts?
- Fun, ridiculously silly, ridiculously easy - win win win!
- There are tons of ways to customize these suckers. As I said above, you can make them striped or color-blocked, depending on how you arrange the colors. You can add ribbon to add some contrasting color, or use strips of fabric or wide ribbon instead of the tulle to make a different kind of skirt altogether (swishy, rather than poofy). And just playing with the colors of tulle, there are tons of options: I've seen ones with different holiday color schemes, ones for each of the Disney princesses, red ones with large white spots as part of a Minnie Mouse costume, blue ones with large stars as part of a Wonder Woman costume, lots of pink and purple ones for fairies, green ones for Tinkerbell... the list goes on and on.
- I don't know if I'd be able to run longer than a 5K in the costume I used on Saturday. I was pretty pleased with my race time and I like the skirt, but the tulle can get bunched between your legs as you run. I did have to walk a few moments during the last mile to rearrange my skirt. In the future, I'd either need to make it shorter, so that it sticks out more than it drapes, or wear running tights - which it was definitely too warm for on Saturday... yay Texas :(
- All in all, though, a fun project and a fun race!
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