Cyber Monday Sale

Don't Forget tomorrow is the big Cyber Monday sale! To place an order email me at fairygoddess_1985@yahoo.com with your entire order and then I will apply the discount and send you an invoice through paypal.

Happy Shopping & Happy Holidays!

Bailey Booper's Boutique

Cyber Monday Sale

***CYBER MONDAY SALE*** IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER!! HERE IS MY CYBER MONDAY FLIER WITH ALL THE DETAILS OF THE SALES GOING ON AT BAILEY BOOPER'S ON CYBER MONDAY!

Bailey Booper's Photo Contest

Bailey Booper's is having a Holiday Photo Contest! Everyone has from
November 11, 2010-December 11th 2010 to submit a photo of your child and
then on Dec 11th I will chose a winner. Both girls and boys can be
entered ages newborn-10yrs. The Winner will receive the grand prize of a Christmas outfit. I will then chose a runner up to receive a small
Christmas prize. 

 

To enter go to www.facebook.com/baileyboopersboutique and submit a photo with your child's name and age

How To Make a Tutu

To make a tutu you will need...
-Sharp Scissors
-Measuring tape
-A needle and thread (elastic waist tutus only)
-3/4 inch no-roll elastic (elastic waist tutus only)
-3/4, 7/8, 1or 1.5" inch satin or grosgrain ribbon (ribbon apron waist tutus only)
-Tulle
-Lighter or clear nail polish to seal the ends of your ribbon so it doesn't fray

Second - Measurements!

AVERAGE WAIST SIZE PER AGE: (It's always better to get an exact measurment, but in case you can't...)

NB- 12 months: 15"-17"
12 months - 2 years: 18"
2 years - 4 years: 19"
4T: 20"
5T: 21"
6T: 22"

TULLE LENGTH: (length of tutu... if you want it longer or shorter, you've got to figure that out for yourself ;) )

Newborn - 12 months: 6"-8"
12 months - 2 years: 8"-9"
2 - 4 years: 9-10"
4T: 11"
5T: 12"
6T: 13"

TULLE: (In my opinion, it's always easiest and fastest to cut all of your tulle first.)
So for my tutus I special order rolls of 25 yards of 6" tulle. I find that the tulle is much softer, and much easier to work with than going and buying square yards like the tutorials tell you to do. With 6" tulle, you just have to cut length, not the strip and the length. Michael's, JoAnne's and other craft stores sell 6" tulle too, usually in their wedding section, but the color choices tend to be limited. So if you can't find 6" tulle in the colors you want, it'll probably be easiest/cheapest to just buy square yards.

-USING SQUARE YARDS OF TULLE:
For an average 2 - 4 year old tutu, you'll need about 4 yards of tulle. Leave the tulle folded in half just like you bought it off of the roll. If you're using more than one color of tulle, you will have to do this with each piece. Keeping the folded side closest to you, roll the tulle up so it makes a sort of tube. Next, cut your rolled up tulle into strips. Using this rolled up method makes cutting way easier, cleaner, and takes much less time. Some people prefer cutting the tulle 3" apart (strips), I prefer 6". Unroll the tulle, and voila! Your strips are ready! Now, depending on the length you want your tutu to be, you may want to cut these strips in half before you start tying, you may not. The best way to tell, is... let's say I want my tutu's length to be about 10". This means I want my strip of tulle to be about 20" long if I'm making a ribbon apron tutu, and about 21" if I'm making an elastic waist tutu. We use the slip knot method to make/tie our tutu around the ribbon or elastic... thus you want your strip of tulle to be double the length as you're actually making two strands of your tutu. In the ribbon apron style, your knot is fairly small so the tulle can just be double the length. In the elastic waist style, your knot takes up about an inch of your tulle, thus double your length plus one inch.

-USING 6" TULLE
Just measure your strips double the length you want your tutu to be, and cut! (Plus 1 inch if it's an elastic waist tutu.)

RIBBON APRON STYLE VS. ELASTIC WAIST TUTU:
Making a Ribbon Apron style tutu is much faster and easier than making an elastic waist tutu. It truly is no-sew. With an elastic waist tutu, you do have to handstitch the waistband together. However, though the ribbon apron style is easier to make, it won't fit as long simply because the waistband doesn't stretch. An elastic waist tutu gives several inches of stretch so that in can be worn for quite a while, though it does take longer to make.

RIBBON APRON STYLE TUTUS:
Ribbon - I buy 3/4 inch satin ribbon in a color that will match whatever color(s) of tulle I plan to use. I measure the waist of whoever I'm making the tutu for, add about 40 inches and cut. With your ribbon, measure in 20 inches from each end and tie a knot. The length of the ribbon inbetween your two knots should be your waist measurment. You'll tie your tulle inbetween the two knots. When you're finished, you'll have the extra ribbon at the end to tie the tutu around your little one and make a nice big bow!

ELASTIC WAIST TUTUS:
Cutting your (3/4 inch no-roll) elastic to the correct waist size is actually a little tricky, because as you tie your tulle on, the elastic will actually stretch out. So if I wanted a 20 inch waist and just measured out 20 inches of elastic, your waist will actually end up being about 5" too big. So, instead of that headache, minus about 4"-5" from your waist measurement when cutting your elastic. So if I wanted a 20" waist, I'd cut my elastic at 15". Next, make your elastic into a loop and overlap about a half an inch. Hand stitch the elastic together. When finished, pull it apart to make sure it won't come undone.

TUTU DRESSES:
Do the exact same thing as if you were to make an elastic waist tutu. For most kids, their waist and chest sizes are about the same. Just determine your length (about chest to mid-calf) multiply it by two and add one inch. Tye as if you were making a tutu, but now you have a dress! For the neck strap, cut about 25" of 3/4 inch satin ribbon and form into a "V" shape with your fold at the bottom and the ends at the top. Keeping your ribbon in the "V" shape, hand stitch it to the inside of the elastic and tulle. You'll now just tie the ribbon in a bow behind your little one's next, and voila! A tutu dress! Some people like to add flowers and things to the front of the dress. The best way to do this is to use hot glue and to press the back of the flower into the tulle in front of the halter strap.

TYING YOUR TULLE:
Fold your strip of tulle in half and tye in a slip knot over elastic/ribbon. To do this, put the folded tulle strip in front of the elastic, then bring the raw ends of the tulle around the elastic and through the loop of tulle. Then pull tight! Tying the knots on a ribbon apron style tutu takes much less precision, whereas you must be a little more careful when tying with elastic. I have found that keeping the tip of my thumb in the knot while pulling on the ends of the tulle makes it a little easier to tighten. When it's tight, just slip your thumb out! Continue tying the tulle like this side by side for your tutu. The knots don't have to be perfect as they won't really be seen, but they definitely need to be tight so that they don't come loose. Continue tying on your tulle until you can pull the waistband out and not see any elastic, but make sure it still has some stretch and give for your growing little one!

People find their own ways to tie tulle. If you use my method, at the end you will need to turn the tutu inside out so that the knots are inside the tutu. If you tie the opposite way than me (starting with the tulle behind the elastic as opposed to in front) then your knots will already be on the inside.

SOME OTHER FUN THINGS TO DO:
-Embellishments: Some people use hotfix machines to add crystals and other things to their Tutus
-Tinkerbell Tutus: Just cut the raw ends of each tulle strip into points
-Knotted End Tutus: These make great "rocker" tutus. Just knot the end of each piece of tulle! I made a hot pink and black one of these for my daughter and it was perfect for her "rock ballerina" halloween costume!
-Streamer Tutus: Just tie on ribbon the same length as your tulle as you're making your tutu. (Double knot rather than slip knot)
-Ribbon Wrapped Waistband: Some people don't like the look of the knots, especially if they've used more than one color of tulle in their tutu. Use 7/8" satin ribbon. Leave an excess of about 15"-17" if you want a bow when you're finished. Wrap the ribbon above the elastic, then under the elastic (between two pieces of tulle) then move over a knot and continue until you've gone around the tutu. At the end, you can either tie a bow with your excess and trim the ends as necessary, or just neatly hand stitch your ends into the inside of the tutu.
-Double Layer Tutu: Tie your knots one going up, one going down so that the tulle goes opposite ways. Once you're finished, pull the top layer down over the bottom layer. You can use two different colors going up and down so that you end with one color on top and one on the bottom. You can even cut the top layer shorter than the bottom for a cool tapered skirt effect!

CARING FOR YOUR TUTU:
This is what I send to people when I sell/ship them tutus:

Tutu Care
Caring for your Tutu is easy! Your tutu will come folded so it will require a little bit of fluffing upon arrival. Remove from the package and hang right away. Start with the inside layers first and work your way out by running your fingers through the layers.
Once you have worked your way pulling and fluffing through all of the layers, we recommend hanging the tutu in your bathroom and running a hot shower for 5-10 minutes so the steam can get out any creases - A steamer will also work, just be careful not to get too close.

If you happen to spill something on your tutu, we recommend that you simply run the areas under warm water and clean by hand then hang your tutu to dry. Once it’s dry just simply refluff.