This one's for the girl.

Project three's a fun one, people.  A super duper fun one.  And what's more, it's incredibly easy! (Just takes some time...)  It's quite possibly my most favorite yarn project yet, but that may be because of the cute little face behind the yarn...

Do you have a Pixie to make a tutu for?  You can whip one of these up in an afternoon!  Get these things together:
a book
yarn in your favorite colors.  (Depending on the size of the tutu, you should only need about one skein, probably less.)
Scissors
Elastic
A sewing machine 


First, get yourself a BIG book.  Hm.  Or a small one... Ok, use one that is about the same length as you want the tutu to be plus an inch or so.

Now, start wrapping your yarn around it.

And wrap and wrap and wrap. 

And you're done!  A yarn wrapped book!  Cute, huh?


No, no, just kidding.  Take your scissors and cut one end of all the yarn.

Repeat this with any other colors you want to use until you have about this much yarn.  (I actually only used a little over half of this pile).

Measure your elastic to fit your Pixie's waist.  Subtract about an inch.  Cut.  Use your sewing machine to sew the two ends of the elastic together in two parallel lines with a zig zag stitch,

So it looks like a loop.

Stretch your elastic out over something about the same size as your Pixie's waist.  You don't want to stretch it too much (I've learned from experience, it's not a good idea).  Use a chair, a book, or a sort of ugly Dora Doll Stroller.

Take a small handful of yarn using whatever combo of colors you'd like to,

fold it in half and stick the folded end under the elastic.

Stick the other end through the folded loop and pull, but not too tightly.

Lay it flat and it will look like this:

Familiar?  Yes, exactly.  It looks just like a no-sew tulle tutu.  Super original, yes?  
Keep it up all around the elastic.  Don't pull too tightly and don't add too many handfuls or you'll stretch your elastic out too much to fit.  I may speak from experience here.

Once you're all done putting the yarn around the elastic, this is when the real creativity begins!  You'll want to make your tutu one of a kind.  Unique.  Fun.  Pixie worthy.
Take some strands and braid them.  Take a few others and knot them together.  One knot, two knots, three... it's up to you.  Unravel a few of the yarn pieces.  And by a few I mean a lot.  (I unraveled a lot.  That's the part that took the longest with this project.  I especially unraveled a a lot of the yarn on the INSIDE so that it made the tutu a little puffier).  Once you've unraveled some yarn, tie knots and/or braids again.  There's no rules here.  No rhyme or reason.  You know that's my favorite kind of craft.

When you're all done with that, hold it up and check it out from all angles.  Make sure you like the look and adjust, adding braids, frays, twists, knots, wherever you need them.


Then lay it down and trim it.  You don't want it to be straight across on the bottom, that would look much to perfect for a crazy, funky tutu like this.  But you do want to trim the pieces that are extra long and make sure it's the right length for your girly.  I cut some a little shorter than others to keep the non-uniformity of the yarn intact.

And once you're done trimming, you've got an adorable little tutu,

For an adorable little pixie.

Who likes to be nosy, nosy on the neighbors.

I have to be honest.  Tulle tutu's are cute.  They are pretty and fun and girly.  They are perfect for a ballerina or a classy fairy.


But this tutu?  Can't you see a little woodland sprite skipping through the grass in this?

Yes, this tutu is for the fun, funky, mischievous little pixie. 

And because I can't escape the resemblance of this skirt to rastafari, I thought you might be interested to note:

it doubles quite nicely as a wig.




Now, if you want to see something really spectacular, check out Shannon's post!

*Be sure to check the right sidebar for all the fun parties I link to!