{No-Sew} Fabric Scrap Tutus

A few years ago I made a no-sew tulle tutu for my niece's 2nd birthday. It was so easy and I have been meaning to make more, especially now that I have a second niece to spoil! So when I saw the new trend of fabric scrap tutu's, I knew that I had to give those a try.

This was a super easy project and took no time at all. And what a great way to use up your scrap pile! Here is how my youngest niece's skirt turned out:

Hers is made up of 4 different fabrics and I cut a point on the ends of the orange flowered strips for some extra dimension

Want to see how I did it? Let me walk you through the steps I took on my older niece's skirt. To get started you want to measure the waist of the person you are making it for (I used my 4 year old to get a rough estimate) and then subtract 3 inches. This is how much elastic you want to cut. I believe I am using the 1 inch wide elastic here. Then you want to sew the two ends together to create a waistband. (Okay, I said no sew but this step is super easy so I don't think it counts:)

Then you want to find some coordinating fabrics and start cutting strips. My strips are between 1 and 2 inches wide and to determine length just measure from the waist to wherever you want the skirt to hit and then double. It doesn't hurt to go a little longer because you can always trim it down. You can also cut the different fabrics in various lengths for dimension. The number of strips you need is going to depend on how big your skirt is. For this skirt I used almost 50 strips (this isn't all of them, I had to add some at the end):

Now you are ready to assemble your skirt. Find a comfy seat {and if you are like me, some ridiculous Reality TV show to past the time} and slide the elastic band up over your thigh.

At this point you need to decide what order you want to add your fabric in. You can alternate colors in an ABCD pattern or clump them together in various ways - AABCCD or ABACAD, etc. This will depend on what you want your skirt to look like and how much of each fabric you have. You can also just wing it as you go and see what looks good. When this is decided, you can start adding the fabric to the waistband. This is done with a simple slipknot (I will label the directions with numbers that correspond with the following pictures for those of you who need a visual). Fold a strip of fabric in half so that the non-pattern sides are touching[1]. Slide the folded piece of fabric under the elastic[2]. Create a loop at the top of the fabric[3] and pull the ends through the loop[4]. Pull and adjust until it has created a tightened knot on the waistband[5].

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

Continue doing this until your entire waistband is covered and you have a full skirt.

You can see that I got through my first pile of fabric strips and had a gap so I had to find some more fabric to add to it. The nice thing is that you can slide the knots around so you aren't limited to adding to the gap, fill that fabric in wherever you want to:

I also added in a few ribbon strips and a bow and then I was done!

This is such a versatile pattern, you can feel free to add in ribbon or tulle as you go for accents or embellish with fabric flowers or bows. The possibilities are really endless! Wouldn't this be fun in team colors for a little fan? I think tights and boots would be darling with these skirts. Can't wait to see them on my already adorable nieces!