Tutu Dress

I want to be a Mom that supports the things her kids are into.

Really, I do.

But I have a hard time with the little things.

Like letting them pick their Halloween Costumes.

I've been planning Josie's costume since before last Halloween.  We were going to a family party so we needed to all go together.

Andrew and I were going to be Tourists, Baby V was going to be a Pilot, and Josie was going to steal the show with her custom made, tiny replica of my Mom's uniform, Flight Attendant!

I was even going to make her candy bag out of a diaper box and wheels so it looked like her luggage.

Adorable, no??

But then she turned 3 and with 3 came all these opinions and ideas that no longer matched mine.

Somewhere along the line she decided she wanted to be a Blue Fairy.  And there was no getting her to budge.

Finally one night, Andrew was listening to me try to bribe her into being a Flight Attendant and he said, "Seriously Nicole.  It's Halloween.  Let her be a Blue Fairy."

And of course, he is right.  It's just Halloween and the whole night is for her to have fun dressing up.

So I agreed that she didn't have to be a Flight Attendant.  But she couldn't be just a Blue Fairy.  We needed something more creative then that.

So I made her a Peacock!

I loved the idea. 

Josie?

Not so much.

So if she asks, she's a Blue Fairy!

And it turned out so cute I threw together a Tutorial.  Dresses like this were selling for over $50 on Etsy.  Mine rang in at about $12 total.

You'll need:

3 rolls of tulle (about 25 yards each and 6 inches wide)

Elastic

2 yards of satin ribbon

Measure your "Blue Fairy" from right under her armpit to where you want the dress to fall.  Add on a couple inches for the knots.

Also measure around her under her armpits (bustline).  Cut your elastic to that.  Note that the elastic will stretch when you tie on the tulle.

Look how happy she is that she gets to be a Fairy!

Double that measurement and spend the next 30 minutes cutting all your tulle to that length.

Now you're ready to make your dress.

Double over a peice of tulle:

Then pull the loose ends around the elastic and through your loop:

And pull tight:

Repeat, repeat, repeat.

In the end, you'll have one seriously happy Peacock:

I mean, Blue Fairy!

It ended up looking too, err, grown without straps so I added more purple satin ribbon to make it tie around her neck.

And she can't be a peacock without feathers:

I've added a few more details to it since this, but of course I can't post those until Halloween!