Tutu Tote

Another little girl's birthday party today, hurray!  I am really enjoying making little gifts for the girl friends of my two sons.  It is finally an opportunity to sew some frilly stuff.  Today's party theme was princesses so I created a little bag for the now-3-year-old birthday girl that is reminiscent of fairies and ballerinas. 

I made this bag using the instructions for my ribbon-handled tote which you can find here.  Since the outer fabric I was working with was fairly light weight, I added a layer of thin batting before embroidering the recipient's name on the front.  For the tutu portion I cut tulle 12" deep by the width of the fabric.  I pieced together three widths and then folded the long strip in half lengthwise, making a very long 6" strip.  I stitched a gathering stitch just inside the folded edge, drew up the stitches and pinned the tutu around the bag, overlapping the two ends.  I stitched it in place on top of the gathering stitches on the outer portion of the bag before inserting the lining as per my tutorial.  Striped ribbon handles finished it off.

I love the pink and chocolate brown color scheme (as you can tell from two other projects I've recently completed here and here) and I've just about depleted my stash of these fabrics so I guess it's off to the fabric store next week to restock.  I'm sure I will have many other girly-girl birthday parties in my future.

Tutu Hair Bow Holder

My 4-year-old was finally invited to a girl’s birthday party.  He is one of 9 boys in a class of 12, and we had been to numerous parties for his male classmates.  But I’ve been waiting for a little girl’s party so I could MAKE SOMETHING for a gift.  The birthday girl in question is a little princess-type and loves pink and girly things.  I thought this tutu hair accessory holder by Embroidery Garden would be just the ticket.

Every time I work with one of Reen’s embroidery files I am impressed.  Her attention to detail in her digitizing amazes me.  This project is no exception.  The stitch quality is excellent as are her instructions which are included in PDF format with lots of pictures and suggestions for embellishment.  The bodice portion of the design is stitched on the embroidery machine and the skirt and embellishments added afterwards.  I chose some different embellishments than the sample suggests.   I added bows to the ribbon streamers (this is where the hair bows/barrettes, etc. are clipped on), and around the “waist” I used a piece of stretch velvet, sewn into a tube and embellished further with an additional ribbon.

I really like how this turned out and hope that the little girl who received it will enjoy using it as much as I enjoyed making it.  Anxiously awaiting the next girly-girl birthday party. . . .