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Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Free pattern - The (Almost) No-Sew Fairy Skirt

What you'll need:
  • One yard of each of four different colors of tulle or netting (finer works better - don't make more than one of the colors out of the really stiff stuff, or it'll be too itchy). This will make a skirt that's about 18" long - if you want it longer, just double the length of skirt you want, and buy that many inches of each color tulle.
  • One 10-yard spool of each of two different colors of 1/4" ribbon
  • A piece of 1-inch non-roll elastic that's large enough to fit the waist of the child snugly with about 1" of overlap at the ends

What to do:

  1. Overlap the ends of the elastic by about an inch, making sure you don't have the elastic twisted. Machine- or hand-sew the edges together through the overlap. If you think you may have to make the skirt larger in the future, use thread that's easy to see, and don't overlap your stitches much or it will be a pain to take out.
  2. Cut the tulle or netting into strips that are 36" long by about 4" wide. I do this by folding it in quarters and using a ruler and a rolling cutter, but you could use scissors if you had to.
  3. Cut the ribbon into pieces between 30" and 36" long (shorter for older kids, so you can get more pieces out of the spool).
  4. Fold one piece of tulle in half and put it under the elastic so that the fold is in the middle of the elastic circle and is toward your right. It isn't essential to have the ends of the tulle exactly even - in fact, it probably looks better if you don't.
  5. Use the tulle to make a slipknot around the elastic - bring the ends of the tulle up over the elastic and tuck them through the loop in the tulle, then pull the ends back to your left to tighten it around the elastic. You want it snug but not so tight that it rolls the elastic.
  6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 for the remaining tulle and ribbon, alternating colors in whatever order you choose. Use enough strips to cover the elastic, but don't pack them in there so tightly that it starts getting weird looking. You should end up with a waistband that looks like this:
  7. Now comes the annoying part. In order to keep the slipknots from, well, slipping, you need to tie the tails together. To do this, take one tail from color A and tie it to one tail of color B. It doesn't matter if you use a square knot or a granny knot or some fancy thing you learned in Girl Scouts 20 years ago - just tie the suckers together. Then take the other tail of color B and tie it to one tail of Color C. Take the second C tail and tie it to a D, etc. You'll end up with each color tied to the color on either side of it. This will give you a waistband that looks like this:
  8. If you want, tie bells to the ends of some of the ribbons (or sew them to the elastic waist), or glue on fake flowers or sequins or whatever suits your fancy. The more sparkly and crusty it gets, the more the kid is going to like it ... and the less washable it will be, so use your judgement about how fancy it needs to get. Oh, and you may want to spray the skirt with Static Guard every once in a while - otherwise, the skirt tends to climb up the kid's body, eventually engulfing their mouth and asphyxiating them. Well, not really, but it IS sorta annoying to have the top layer of tulle stuck to you.

Please note that this pattern is for personal use ONLY and may not be reproduced except for your own use. If you wish to make these to sell, please contact me to secure permission. I'll probably give it to you, if you ask nicely and send me cookies (and a check).

I hope you enjoy this project - and that you send me lots of pictures of kids wearing your finished creations! I'd love to start a group on flickr, if we get enough fairies out there :)







39 comments:

Jane Pierce aka zJayne said...

This is just so adorable...thanks for sharing! I've sent it to my favorite fairy nieces and sisters!

Laura said...

That is very cute! I need to learn how to sew!

Laura said...

This isn't related to the skirt, but I was browsing Amazon.com for upcoming crochet books, and I thought about your zombie bunny when I saw this book - http://www.amazon.com/Creepy-Cute-Crochet-Zombies-Ninjas/dp/1594742324/ref=sr_1_24?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1198075350&sr=1-24.

missliss5/Melissa said...

ADORABLE! Thank you SO much for posting these easy to follow instructions. I bought material to make one for my 3 daughters yesterday and I'm cutting out the tulle strips today. I'm super excited to have found such a simple way to make a cute skirt. I'm excited!

Anonymous said...

Finally, I have found something that I can actually do!! My daughter and her friend want to be Halloween Fairies, and I had everything but the skirts. I saw this, and it's perfect!! I can't sew worth a lick, but I can tie some pretty mean knots!! Thanks!

Julie said...

This looks perfect for some costumes for our school production, do you mind if I use the design? Send address for cookies!!!! :-)

Anonymous said...

WOW! im 12 i could make this!

Anonymous said...

Hi. I see that you have an etsy site. I don't know if you have these for sale on your etsy site or not but I wanted to comment.

This style is EXTREMELY popular with the Rave crowd. I don't know where you're located, but Raves are huge events in California. These "fairy skirts" are referred to as "twisted tutus." I've seen them sell for $20+ dollars on Etsy - the more colors, the more expensive. Just something to consider - Carla

Anonymous said...

Exactly what I was looking for! Thank You!!

Winry'sMommy said...

I plan on making this for myself for the dragon con convention in september. I'll make it in two different colors of purple and black. Thank you so much!! O and I'm 23 and it's perfect

kristin said...

AWESOME! I am going to be making these for my girls for Halloween-they want to be fairies (and I'm very pregnant so it helps that it seems to be so easy!). When I post the results on my blog I'll be sure to link back to you. TY so much for sharing your cute idea!

Julie said...

We had our school production last night. The skirts looked fantastic, thanks again. Julie xx http://juliespp.blogspot.com/2009/09/dancing-raindrops.html

Anonymous said...

i made this using halloween tulle for my daughters witch costume!! it turned out beautiful. thanks for posting the pattern!

Anonymous said...

I am going to be a fairy for halloween and I love this idea. But i was wondering, can you make this and add in thin silk fabric strips as well as the toole strips?

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much! My friends and I are being fairies for Halloween (haha we're 13!!). This is perfect, fairly easy, and so CUTE!!!!

Anonymous said...

so cute and so easy, whipped one out in about 2 hours and that's with unsolicited help from my 2 & 5 year olds! used it to complete a sesame street fairy in training (she will remain nameless - © laws :( ) costume and now I think I'll make my other daughter some type of fairy too! Thanks for posting, this was fantastic!

jkagrandma said...

I bought some tule and was looking for a pattern. I came upon yours and had more fun reading the pattern. You are adorable! Now i will go make the skirt!

Anonymous said...

HI! My name is Bri & I just wanted to say THANK YOU for actualy putting up instructions on how to do this! I saw the idea at my daughter's gymnastics class, a little girl's mom had made 1 for her daughter & I just LOVED it! My mom & I recently went to the fabric store & WENT CRAZY on buying tulle, ribbon, elastics, flowers & stuff to make these skirts. I decided I was going to make my daughter an "Easter" one so that I didn't have to buy her an expensive Easter dress!!!!! I made mine, but I wasn't quite sure how to do it.... I used slip knots as you did, but I pulled mine really tight.... & I'm VERY glad that I was able to find out how other people do it! There is only one thing that we did differently..... I sewed snaps onto mine! Jusdt thought I'd share that with you! And THANK YOU AGAIN!!!!

~Bri

Anonymous said...

Wonderful design. Thank you. I'll be doing the grand daughter's Halloween costume with this one. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

I just finished making your fairy skirt for my daughter in shades of green for a special school event! I love it and it was so easy! Thank you for posting this pattern!

Anonymous said...

I have minimal sewing skills and was looking for an easy way to make a skirt for Mardi Gras costume. Thank you - this is great!

Anonymous said...

I know this was along time ago, but thank you for a version of this simple tutu that actually makes sense!

Anonymous said...

Thank you, I found your instructions after googling and made it as a gift for a friends daughter!
Sarah in Australia

Girlie Girl Stylist said...

Thank you so much because this is easy to follow and very affordable..You rock!

Anonymous said...

My 17 year old daughter who is a very creative person, just LOVED making this skirt. She is going to wear it to a Renaissance fair. I am making a costume too, but not as a fairy. My daughter made this skirt as part of a fairy costume. It turned out great! Thank you.

Anonymous said...

Great idea! I teach preschool and my assisant and I are thinking of dressing like faires this year for Halloween. I am going to try and re-create your skirt to fit a medium sized and a plus size adult. lol wish me luck.

Anonymous said...

they sell spools of tulle 3 to 6 inches wide in a variety of colors, so if you really want to be lazy you don't even have to do the cutting other than the length :P

Anonymous said...

I'm making this skirt this weekend for my niece who is 14 months old! Can't wait to see it on her! Thanks for the cute and EASY idea!

Marie said...

I made this skirt!! So fun!! And i put it on my blog!! you can go see it at http://beadbybeadstitchbystitch.blogspot.com/
thanks for the idea!! My daughter loves her skirt!!

Tane Hannah said...

Wow, this is A.W.S.O.M.E.My mom made it for my younger sister, she LOVES it!! :)

Anonymous said...

Loved it! I got even lazier! I just double knotted each strip and then didn't have to tie them to each other! Turned out awesome thanks so much for the idea!

vivasuzi said...

Thank you! Looks super easy. I saw something like this on etsy for 90$ and said to myself - I could make that! I thought for sure I'd have to sew scoot but your instructions make it even easier :-)

Libby :) said...

Thank you soo much!!! :)
I was going to post a photo of the one i made but i don't think i can add a picture on here lol

Magic Mirror Face Painting and Party Fun said...

This would be perfect for our fairy parties...thanks for the great idea :)

Anonymous said...

I have been looking for project to do with my 5 yr old granddaughter this weekend. What a perfect craft! I have some tulle I was ready to get rid of because it is and odd color ~ but it will be perfect to use for this. Thanks you for the idea.

Anna said...

we made a dozen of these for a fairy party last month - they turned out beautifully! here is a link to the post of the skirts - thanks of for the great tip!

http://www.sttheophanacademy.com/2012/10/fairy-party-frocks.html

vivasuzi said...

I L O V E LOVE LOVE this :) I am half way through making skirts for my daughters birthday party. I bought the most beautiful 6 colors of tulle and ribbon (Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple) for her rainbow themed / bubble guppies themed birthday party. Half the tulle is sparkly and half is crushed so it's really cute. I will come back after her birthday next month to post pics :)

For anyone wondering about measurements. My daughter is only going to be 2 so an 18" skirt would have been way too long for her. Here is what I did for her and her 2 friends.

- I bought 6 yards of tulle in 6 colors and cut each yard in half - so now I had 12 yards of 18" tulle. This makes a 9" skirt that goes around her knees.
- For each skirt, I cut 18 strips of ribbon at 16" (3 of each rainbow color).
- In total I used 54 strips of tulle on her skirt and 48 on the 2 other girls just so I could save some tulle for other projects. You can easily get away with less if you spread them out more. Her waist is around 18"
- I put the tulle on in rainbow order, throwing in a ribbon (also in rainbow order) every 3 strips.

Ok that is a lot of numbers but I thought it might help someone who is like me and deals in exact numbers :)

Astrid said...

I was jsut looking for a tute like this, and I found yours on Pinterest. Made it in a black version for my daughters Vampire princess costume, and it turned out great. Connectingthedots.dk Thank you for this great tutorial! :)

Watua said...

Very innovative! I design clothing and have very short notice in which to make 2 fairy skirts...Going to save hours of work. Thank you!
Rrain