How to make a Halloween candy corn tutu for your American Girl doll

Last weekend we attended the Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Festival, and we spent a pleasant day gawking at the beautifully carved pumpkins, collecting free samples of granola bars and bread,  pigging out on pumpkin ice cream, and wandering through the arts and crafts booths.  One of the booths happened to sells little girls' tutus of all kinds.  I miss The Pea being young enough to wear a tutu!

The tutus on display were adorable -- and when I looked closely, I realized how easy they were to make.  Since I can't make one for The Pea anymore, I decided to make one for her American Girl doll.  Yes, I'm destined to become the crazy old lady who plays with dolls.  If you're like me, keep reading to find out how to make the tutu....

Candy Corn Tutu for American Girl Dolls

You'll need:
* 12" of white elastic band, 1/2" wide

* About 100 strips of tulle, cut into strips about 12"long and 2" wide.  This comes out to about 1/2 yard of tulle.  I used yellow and white tulle, but you can use any color you want.  The 12" length makes a tutu that comes up to just above the knee of your American Girl Doll, so if you want a longer tutu, cut your strips longer.

1) Measure out a piece of 1/2"-wide elastic band, 11" long

2) Sew the band together at the ends to make a circular waistband, overlapping by about 1/4".  Note, if you really, REEELLY don't want to sew a stitch, you could tie the ends of the elastic together in order to make the waistband, but it won't look as nice!

3)  Take 2 strips of yellow tulle and fold in half.  Set the elastic band over the strips so that it forms a loop with the folded strips.

4) Push the ends of the strip through the loop and pull tight to knot the strips to the elastic.

5) Repeat steps 3 and 4, alternating colors, until the entire waistband is filled. It took me exactly 50 double strips (100 strips of tulle total), but you can certainly squeeze in a few more to make it even fuller, flouncier and fancier.

It's that simple!  Of course, you can certainly embellish your tutu by adding more colors, glitter, ribbons, buttons, sequins, you name it.  I couldn't find orange tulle, so I bought orange organza ribbon and sewed orange bows into the tulle.  I also

Isn't it adorable? Marie-Grace is wearing the tutu with a candy corn dress that I made out of a yellow tshirt and a strip of orange fabric, and she's carrying a Halloween treat bag that I made out of duct tape (Click here for how-to instructions for the treat bag).  She's all set to trick-or-treat!