The No-Sew $15 Princess Costume

Last week I wrote about a ballet program I'm teaching for through the Boys and Girls Club. I'm in charge of costumes for their spring recital, Beauty and the Beast, and decided to get started right away.

The thing is, there is only a tiny budget to provide these costumes. As a former ballerina, I can testify that nothing on Earth makes you feel as pretty and girly as a tutu. Nothing. After meeting these girls and seeing how much they love ballet, I decided that they must have tutus. Bad family circumstances have left them feeling less than princess-like, so for one night that is going to change. 

Problem 1: How do you make a tutu?

Problem 2: How do you make a tutu on a budget?

First I did a substantial amount of Google research on tutus and found a dozen tutorials on them. Use this one to see how to get the knot. I even safety pinned the elastic so I could adjust it to the particular girls. 

Since I wanted to keep the tutu bottom white for future performances, I got away with using bridal tulle from Walmart. The $14 spool was enough for three tutus. 

The elastic was 97 cents and would be enough for two girls or three babies.

Then, to make it yellow, I took a plain white leotard and Rit dye and dyed it in my kitchen sink. And yes, my hands were yellow for three days because I didn't wear gloves. Wear gloves. 

I ended up using acrylic paint on some of the tulle to make the yellow, but I would suggest just buying colored tulle. The money saved wasn't worth the pain of painting tulle. 

Use safety pins to make the pick-ups on the skirt and top of the leotard. Rhinestone it as you see fit. If you want it to be more secure, you can stitch everything that is pinned. It works better for the ballet program if they can reuse the leotards and tutus for another performance and practices.

If you're not set on making it look like Belle, you could make this cheaper as Cinderella or a generic princess. Walmart and Target both have cheap little pink and blue leotards. 

If you make this project, be sure to send us photos! If you have any left over materials that you'd like to donate to the Angelina Ballerina program, we can pick those up, too.

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