Easy-peasy no-sew dress-up skirt/tutu

Much as I'm enjoying tinkering on my sewing machine, every now and then it's nice to make something super-quick and easy without having to lug it out.

This little dressing-up skirt has become an instant hit with Ruby - perfect for twirling and whirling.

Not only is there no sewing required, you can make it in minutes and it's a great 'upcycle' of something old.

You will need:

Length of lace cafe curtain style net (choose one with cotton content if you're dying it.)
Length of ribbon
DYLON fabric dye or DYLON curtain whitener


You can often pick up lengths of lace curtain second-hand in charity shops, car boots or on Ebay for a pound or two.  The length you need will depend on the girth of your child and the fullness of skirt.  For reference, my piece for my 4 year old is approximately 52 inches.

You can of course leave it white (use curtain whitener to freshen it up), but I prefer to add a bit of colour.  I chose DYLON china blue, and also dyed a pair of white leggings at the same time.

If you've not used machine fabric dyes before, then I'd urge you to give it a go.  It's so simple.  Just wash your fabric first, check the instructions and add the required amount of salt and dye to your machine drum, place your clean wet fabric on top and run a 40 degree cycle.  Wash again and you're good to go.  The dye won't take on 100% nylon, so choose a net with some cotton content.

Once your fabric is dyed and dried, simply thread the ribbon through the curtain rod holes, tie it around the waist like an apron, fan out the ruffles an you're done.

This is only a play skirt and obviously she'd always wear leggings or tights underneath as it's see through.  For the sake of decency you could stitch the two end seams together, but personally I don't think you need to.

Disclosure: I have ongoing sponsorship with DYLON however, these concepts are my own.