smooches: December 2009

1. Measure waist, halve and cut 2 identical pieces of semi-stretch material about 5cm high.
2. place pieces on top of each other and sew ends diagonally. You might want to hem each piece before sewing together for a neater edge.

3. Cut tulle double the length of your waist or more. The longer the tulle, the more ruffled (poofy) your skirt will be. Sew a single line along the edge of the tulle using the loosest stitch setting (it's 4 on my sewing machine) leaving excess thread on each side.
4. Gather the tulle towards one side by pulling the tulle along the thread (so it looks kinda like the top of curtains) Make sure the gathered length of the tulle is the same as your waist (if not a little more).
5. Fold tulle in half and sew sides together making a tube.

Repeat steps 3-5 making 4 more tubed layers (my skirt has 4 black layers and 1 red)
If you want a black underskirt like mine (so it's not see-through) repeat steps 3-5 but with black material.

6. Layer tubed tulle seamside up on top of each other and pin to waistband, flattening ruffles. Sew tulle to waistband.
7. Flip inside out and there you have it, your new tulle tutu skirt!

***Random notes
Hope you guys can understand these instructions, I kinda suck at explaining things.

You can make an alternative waistband using tubing material, or whatever works for you.
To make your skirt more or less ruffled (poofy) add or subtract layers, or lengthen the cut of the tulle at step 3 to gather it more.
If you're using more than one colour of tulle, when pinning to skirt, make sure it's the opposite order in which you want it to appear. eg. My skirt has 3 layers of black, then red, then black on top. So when making it, I sewed it with a layer of black underneath, then red, then the 3 layers of black.

contour bust

*Edit #1 (12/08/2007) - Added the dimensions for the contour bust piece for larger sizes!

You will need 4 pieces for this one.

The back is pretty much a standard tube top back.

The front is 3 pieces: 2 contoured bust pieces (they kind of look like sunglasses), and the bottom. It's kind of like a tube top, too, but with the boobs cut out. ;)

REMEMBER TO ADD A SEAM ALLOWANCE FOR ALL OF YOUR PIECES!

Here's a more detailed look at the "sunglass" pieces for the bust for various sizes.

You may need to adjust this a bit depending on your particular shape. And I know I already said this, but remember to add seam allowances!!

The length should be half of the bust (in this case, we have a 36" bust, so our pieces are 18" long).

If you want, you can cut 4 of these instead of 2, and line the bust (recommended for sheer or very thin fabrics).

For larger busts (38-42").

These measurements should work for 44" busts and larger.

Feeling a little lost? check out the sewing basics or post a question in the forum.

I find it's easiest to sew the two "sunglass" pieces together first.
After that, you want to attach it to the other front piece.

Pin the bust to the front piece a lot before sewing. The curved shape can make it kind of awkward to sew.

So now you have the completed front, and the back. All that's left now is to sew the sides of them together.

You can add elastic or a top band to the top, and hem the bottom or add a skirt to make it a dress.

Continue on for a variation.

VARIATION 2

After sewing the two bust pieces together, cut a piece of fabric at least twice as long.

For our example, our front bust pieces are 18" long, so we want the ruffle fabric to be at least 36" in length. I gave myself a few extra inches and came up with 40".

It should be as wide as the widest part of the two pieces sewn together, in this case, 6".

Ruffle the long piece of fabric at the top and buttom edges until it's the same length as the bust piece.

You can do this just by laying it on a table, and making the ruffles with your fingers, or you can baste the ruffle (by hand or machine).

Once you've got it how you want it, the next step will be easiest if you sew the ruffles down at the top and bottom.

Sew the bust piece onto the ruffled piece.

I like to pin the two pieces together on the wrong (back) side of the fabric first, then sew on the right (top) side of the fabric (as shown).
That way, I can see what the ruffles are doing as I sew, and nothing gets wonky.

Looking for polka dot knit fabric?
Try: Ebay - Fabric.com
Or take a look at our Craft Supplies Directory for a huge list of great online fabric stores.
Cut the excess fabric off from the edges.

Ta-da! Now you can sew this onto the rest of the front, and follow the rest of the steps from there.

Back to top

contour side panels

this is a good way to make a smaller shirt (or a recon that turned out too small) fit.

mark where you'd like the inserts to be.

cut along the lines you've marked. save the pieces that you cut off.

feeling a little lost? check out the sewing basics or post a question in the forum.

use the pieces as patterns for the contrasting fabric you will be using for inserts. if you'd like to make the shirt larger, add the extra inches you need to the contrasting panels.

this process is easier if your shirt doesn't have the side seams sewn up yet. so though this picture only shows 2 pieces for each of the tops, there should be 4.

-front right insert, front left insert, back right insert, back left insert.

Looking for awesome knit fabrics?
Try: Ebay - Fabric.com
Or take a look at our Craft Supplies Directory for a huge list of great online fabric stores.

sew the contrasting pieces back into the shirts and sew up the sides.

Back to top

tube top

step one is to measure yourself. you'll need your bust, waist, and low waist measurements for a tube top. for a dress, you'll need your bust, waist, and hip measurements.

lay the t-shirt flat and mark it like so. you will be cutting through both layers of the shirt, making a front piece and a back piece.

this tutorial can also be used with regular fabric. just fold in half and follow the directions from here!

the top line of each piece should be half of your bust measurement (plus seam allowances).

if you have trouble measuring yourself and getting an accurate fit, try this.
turn the front and back pieces so that the right sides (the outsides) are facing each other. sew up the sides.

feeling a little lost? check out the sewing basics or post a question in the forum.

hem of the bottom of the dress or tube top, or add ruffles, pleats, or a flounce hem.

to finish the top, you can hem it, add a strip of elastic, or add a band of fabric.

HOW TO ADD A FABRIC BAND

cut a long strip of stretchy fabric. it should be the length of your bust measurement, minus about 2 inches.

EXAMPLE: cut a 34" long strip of fabric if you have a 36" bust.

the strip should also be twice a wide as you want it to be.

EXAMPLE: if you want a 2" band on the top of your dress/top, cut a 4" wide strip.

Looking for awesome knit fabrics?
Try: Ebay - Fabric.com
Or take a look at our Craft Supplies Directory for a huge list of great online fabric stores.

fold the strip in half and sew as shown. you should now have a "loop" of fabric.

fold the loop in half, so the seam is on the inside.
pin the loop to the top of the dress or top. it will be smaller than the bust, so you will have to stretch it as you sew. use a zig-zag stitch or a serger/overlocker.