More Girls, More Glitter.
(Dear Fabricland please open a 24 hours location, because inevitably its 2 am when i realize i’ve run out of tulle)
My Husband’s family makes girls, which is perfect because i like to make things for girls. Anything with tulle, ribbon, bows or glitter! Or as my nieces would say; things that are “Fancy”, which is something i apparently say around them an awful lot. Yet I only had to say “boobies’ that one time for it to catch on...
This Christmas I did what all creatively inclined people with no time do; i decided to make all of my nieces their Christmas gifts. “All” at that time meant five of them. Baby number six wasn’t due until after Christmas.
After seeing the Tutu a friend had purchased, I examined its parts and proclaimed that I would “make my own”, and then added “And ballet slippers too! BALLETT SLIPPERS FOR ALL, AND TO ALL A GOODNIGHT!” At this point i may or may not have been standing, with my arms outstretched, spinning, as a camera shot the scene from above, whilst the cast of A Christmas Carol gathered round singing the praises of this stroke of Christmas brilliance... Pseudo musicals have a way of making the ridiculous seem plausible. So does too much egg nog.
Without any tulle skills of my own or any insight as to how a ballet slipper might be made and in lieu of a grandmotherly type with said skills I, like most, took to Youtube.
You may have a tutu sage in your life, but if you don’t here is a helpful video. It’s not mine, I don’t have one. I had a “Muppets Christmas Carol” sized fantasy of making my own “how too video” but when I found myself still cutting threads off little slippers just 20 minutes before our families Christmas party, i decided that the video could be outsourced.
As for the slipper tutorial...
I spent days, searching for a instructions and patterns, i tried numerous bad ones, and then eventually made my own. This worked shockingly well considering my average sewing skills and complete indifference thus far toward cobbling. If you’d like these instructions I’ll send them to you, just leave a comment/request below.
Both projects are simply enough done when you have the right guidance, and you’ll likely save yourself money too. Though not time. If you have to catch upon your favourite show, then this is the perfect way to justify it. With ribbon pinned to one leg and tulle tucked under the other you can Tutu yourself right through the last season of Grey’s.
All my fears about whether the slippers would fit, or if the girls would like their gifts, or if it had all been worth it, melted away as they excitedly laced up their slippers and twirled around the room in their Tutus.
Gracie made sure to let the little ones know how best to twirl, as only the eldest cousin can. Chloe was topless of course. Adi quickly removed hers to package it up carefully in the exact box it came in, for careful storage in a designated place in her room. And Madi, just a few weeks old, slept soundly with her pink tulle tucked gently round her belly. Absolutely priceless.
Below are a few shots of the pieces in progress, and a few of Madi during her first shoot with me, and a couple of Gracie in the basement which she has recently claimed as her Ballet Studio. She has plans for an upcoming show, for which she will charge admission.
In preparation for the show she is learning `her moves` from Youtube.
Dedicated my sixth niece Eliana joy.
Welcome to this fancy world.
Love aunt anni xox
Ps IOU a tutu.
