To figure out how much tulle you’ll need, use a measuring tape to measure your waist. Then, measure the length from your waist to the point on your leg in which you want the tulle to fall. You can purchase tulle by the yard, but it may be easier to purchase spools of tulle as they usually already come in widths of six inches, which is good for tutu making. For roughly every inch of your waistline, you will need anywhere between two to four yards of tulle, depending on how thick and fluffy you want your skirt to be. Spools of six inch tulle usually come in 25 yards, so you’ll probably need about three to four of these. If your tutu is going to be long, you’ll need more tulle, and if you are going for a shorter tutu, you’ll need less tulle. [1] X Research source If you aren’t sure how much tulle you’ll use, start by buying one spool of tulle and if that doesn’t end up being enough you can purchase a few more.
For example, if you are making a costume for a little girl and her waistline is 20 inches, you’ll want to cut 68 inches.
Make sure you give yourself lots of time to cut your tulle. You may have to use anywhere between 75 and 100 yards of tulle, depending on your waist measurement, and it can take some time to cut those strips! Don’t stress about getting the cuts perfect, though. Because your tulle will be bunched together, it won’t be noticeable if the cuts aren’t perfectly straight.
Basically, if your waistline is 30 inches, you will divide that by two and end up with 15 inches. Then, you will start at the folded part of your ribbon and measure down your ribbon 15 inches. Mark that point on the ribbon and make a knot on each side of the ribbon. When you unfold the ribbon, you should have 30 inches in between both knots. This is where you will add the tulle.
Pinching your tulle just allows you to bunch it up so it is easier to tie around your ribbon. You can do one piece of tulle at a time if you like, but it will not create as drastic a color. It’s easier to do two pieces at once because then you won’t have to make double the knots.
Each time you complete a tulle knot, slide it down to the previous tulle knots. This will prevent gaps or holes you may have left in between your tulle. If you are having difficulty tying your tulle on, you can tie your ribbon around your legs and knot the tulle to your ribbon that way. This just helps keep your ribbon in place and stay taut for you while you work.
You can buy nude panty hose, but if you want your wings to be a certain color, it’s easier if you buy that color panty hose. For example, if you want pink wings, purchase two pairs of pink panty hose.
One option for the top wings is forming a heart in your tear drop by bending the bottom of your tear drop inwards. You can also create a pretty, more elaborate shape by creating three curves in your wing. To do this, make two separate bends in your wire, creating three mountains and two valleys. Repeat this same shape on your other top hanger.
For ideas on different wings you can look up pictures online or think about the wing style you want for your costume. To shape your wings it could be helpful to use pliers.
With each wing you should have two ends of wire. You only want to tape together one end of each wire, as you’ll wrap the other ends around your wings. This prevents your connections from being bulky.
You don’t have to connect your wings in this exact order. If you want to connect your top and bottom wings together before and then connect both sides of the wings, you can do that. Do whatever gives you the best connections for your wings.
Repeat with the rest of your leggings until your wings are covered. Make sure you don’t pull your tights so tightly that you rip your tights or put a bend in the wire.
It’s best to use thick, neutral ribbon here as it will do a better job of covering up your connections. You can use thin ribbon, but you’ll have to use a lot of it to wrap around the center of your wings, so it may make the task harder.
Make sure when you tie your knots that they are on the side of your wings that will touch your back. This way you can correctly tie the ribbon straps around your shoulders when you are ready to wear them.
You may want your wings to match the tulle skirt you created so that you have some uniformity in your outfit. If so, try using the same colors to decorate your wings that you used in your tutu. Or, you could go for a more fun costume and use a bunch of different colors for your wings. To cover up the back center of your wings, you can attach a bow or flower. This could add a nice, pretty touch that will cover up the ribbon in the middle of the wings.
You’ll probably need to wear something under your tutu so try to choose short, cotton shorts or spandex that are a light color, or a color that matches your tutu. You can add colored stockings or tights to your fairy costume for even more pops of color.
Light colors such as baby blue, lilac, light pink, light green, or orange are great colors to spray in your hair if you are going for a cute, feminine fairy look. If you are going for a dark fairy look, purples, blues, dark greens, black, dark pink, or blood red would be a great addition.
For a darker fairy, apply dark, thick black eyeliner on both upper and lower inner lash lines. Use an eyeshadow in a dark shade like plum, dark blue, green, or red and add a bit of silver glitter for a magical look. Then take black liquid eyeliner and add a cat eye by drawing out the eyeliner on your upper lash line in a straight line, to the length of the end of your eyebrow. You can make your makeup even more dark or creepy by using dark eyeshadow under your eye as well. [6] X Research source
