Tutu Tip

So, I was incredibly sick of my tutus starting out looking like this....

And ending up like this!  So I have started running a zigzag stitch around the waistband to keep the knots from coming untied.  It's really simple...

Select a zigzag stitch on your machine and set the width to about 5 and the length to 4 or 5...

  

Run the zigzag all the way around the waistband...

It should look something like this...Excuse my ugly stitching please...I was experimenting with different widths and lengths to see which worked best...Also, you would, of course, want to use thread that matches the tulle so that it is not visible...

The zigzag stitch will likely stretch out your elastic, so just hit it with some steam from a steam iron and   it will shrink back up...don't actually press the iron to the tulle.  If you have a burst of steam function or vertical steam this will be easiest, but if you don't just hold the iron close to the waistband and move it back and forth as if you were ironing to create steam...BTW, I have a Shark iron and it is great!  If you ever buy one though, don't waste your money on the pro versions that are like $40 and $50!  The cheaper one...I think it's $30 and it's blue...is the one I have now...I had a pro but I kept dropping the sucker on the floor and it started leaking water all over so I had to buy a new one, so this time I got the cheaper one, and it works just as well and has all the same features as the pro did.  It's just a teensy bit lighter and not quite as big...not worth the extra $20 imho...

Anyhow, see...my waist band went from 20" to 18"...Also, if you have a tutu that is wrinkle and looking "rachet" as my teenage sisters love to say...hit it with some steam and it'll look brand spankin' new!

And if you need help making a tutu, I have tutorials on petti, pixie and criss cross tutus.  Just check out this link!