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Tutorial: The TV Tutu

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Have you ever noticed how PLAIN your TV looks when it’s not in use?  I mean, it’s just a big, black rectangle hanging on your wall.  We can’t have that, can we?  That was my inspiration for my TV Tutu.  After all, our little girls wear tutus around the house and we put gathered tulle on the backs of little girl baby onesies.  Why not wrap it around your TV for some extra spring bling?

I knowwww you want to make one for your own TV, so I wrote up a short tutorial showing how to make one.

Here’s what you need:

1 25-yard spool of tulle in the color of your choice

3 yards of elastic

Here’s how to make it:

1.  Unroll the whole 25 yards of tulle into a huge pile of fluff on your floor.

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2. Find the two ends and place one on top of the other, esssentially creating a double layer of tulle.

Fold it lengthwise, making sure that the bottom layer is 1-2 inches wider than the top.  Don’t even attempt to fold the whole thing.  Just do it in stages, in combination with the next step.

3.  Take it to your sewing machine and stitch 1/2″ from the folded edge to make the world’s longest casing.  Fold, stitch, fold, stitch…

If your machine has a variable speed setting, set it to the top speed.  With a 12 1/2 yard seam in front of you, the faster you can sew the better.

Here’s what the speed setting looks like on the Janome Memory Craft 6300.

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4.  Now, thread the elastic through the casing.

I used a long plastic tool made for threading cord and elastic through casings, which made this part go really fast.

Tie the ends of the elastic together to make a long stretchy gathered loop of elastic.  A tutu for your TV!!!

You’re done!  All you have to do now is wrap it around your TV and wait for the compliments to come flooding in.

You can leave it plain, or you can spruce it up for different holidays.  I added peel & stick foam Easter eggs to turn mine into a fancy Easter decoration.  Or, you could add flowers for a generic springtime TV tutu.

Or, you could add all kinds of silliness and put it out for April Fools’ Day.  Even better, take a bunch of photos while you’re making it and write up a tutoria to post on your blog for April Fools’ Day.  That’s  right, folks, this project tutorial is a big ‘ole…

APRIL FOOLS!!!

And do you want to know the ultimate April Fools’ joke is with this thing?  The day I made it, my daughter came home from school and saw this tacky thing wrapped around our TV and thought it was the prettiest thing she’s seen.  So now it’s staying on our TV until Easter.  April Fools’ to me, too!

Next Pattern:

Comments

  1. I’m so glad that was an April Fool’s post. As I was reading, I was thinking ‘That seriously is the UGLIEST thing ever’! But I’m not surprised your little girl liked it!

    Reply

  3. LOVE IT!! I guess we were on the same tutu wavelength because my tutorial today also has a tutu!!!
    Love that – and you could use it for so many decor additions. TV’s, Refrigerators, Toilets . . . the list goes on and on!! 🙂

    Reply

  4. oh man, just what my home needs! There are two big built-in shelving units in our house – my side has some nice pottery and pretty knick knacks, my husbands has a big ol TV and assorted electronic devices. This would even things out nicely 🙂

    Reply

  5. Haaaaaaa, the April Fools joke that backfires? My husband would die if something like this ended up in our house, joke or not. Thanks for the laugh!

    Reply

Have you read?

Learn All About Sewing Velvet Fabric

 

I’m always tempted by the pretty velvets at the fabric store.  So much texture!  And the way the fibers catch the light!  But sewing on velvet is trickier than you’d think.  That nap that lends beautiful texture also likes to slip and crawl.  That nap can also spell disaster if you cut a piece the wrong direction.  That isn’t to say you shouldn’t use buy that velvet and sew it into something gorgeous, you just need to go into your velvet sewing project prepared.  And Melissa at Melly Sews has a post that takes you step by step through sewing on velvet. 

Velvet is such a luscious fabric, especially for winter sewing projects.  Of course there are velvet Christmas sewing projects – stockings, tree skirts, santa hats – but velvet is beautiful for all winter.  Think of all the gorgeous velvet dresses, evening bags, hair accessories, even pillows and other home décor that you see all winter long. 

Melly Sews’ post gives you the tips and tricks you need to know in order for your velvet sewing project to end up a success.  There are types of projects better suited for velvets, and kinds of projects to avoid.  She describes the different types of velvet available.  And she also tells the best way to lay out and cut your pattern pieces from velvet fabric.  Her tutorial also covers marking, pressing, and of course sewing that beautiful fabric.  There’s also a video included in case that’s your preferred method for learning.

Head over to Melly Sews to learn how to sew on velvet fabric. 

And if you want to learn more about that lovely blue velvet dress shown, she has a post that tells more about it including 2 ways to style it depending on if you want to be more dressy or more casual.

[photo credit: Melly Sews]

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