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Tutu Tablecloth – Tutorial

October 8, 2012 by girlinspired 17 Comments

Tutu Tablecloth Tutorial
Last January, I made a tutu tablecloth for Grace’s princess birthday party and I have had ongoing requests for a tutorial.  Being in the thick of Project Run and Play sewing back then, I didn’t take pictures of the project or have time to put together a tutorial.  I pulled out the tablecloth again for Olivia’s slumber party last week and was able to try a new top for it, so I thought this would be a good time to share how I made it.  What will you need?
  1. Fabric for the tabletop – make sure your piece is wide enough to fully overhang all sides of the table.  I found a fabric that was 52″ wide, so a square of it easily covered over the sides of my 45″ table.  If your table is too wide, join two pieces together to form your needed width (make sure the seam runs down the center of your table.) I also looked for a fabric that would clean easily, but I have a glass tabletop that can set on top, so this wasn’t too much of a concern for me.
  2. A LOT of tulle – tulle is quite inexpensive, so even though you’ll probably need 15+ yards, you can use a coupon or buy it on sale and end up getting it for a buck a yard or so.
First, we’ll make the portion of the tablecloth that covers the tabletop – take your fabric and drape it over your table.
 Weight the fabric down on the table so that it doesn’t shift when you’re cutting.  I didn’t do this and I ended up with a very not-so-perfect-too small- tablecloth – ugh!  Now, you’re going to cut your tablecloth top into a circle.  You want your finished tutu effect to cascade down from the top edge of the table, but you will need to cut a circle a little larger than your tabletop to allow for the seam and just a tiny bit of wiggle room (1/4″ or so).  Basically, you’ll want to cut your tabletop fabric 1/2″ larger in a precise circle around the tabletop.  (If you have a glass tabletop, it works A LOT better to lay your fabric on the floor, set the glass on top, and trace around (allow that 1/2″ of room for overhang and seam allowance).   Cut with pinking shears so that you don’t have to finish a fraying edge later.
Tutu Tablecloth Tutorial
Now, we’re going to cut tulle.  How much tulle will you need?  Ready for some math?
Each cut of tulle should be your desired length from the top of the table to just above the floor (or wherever you like).  I cut my strips 28″ long.
Tutu Tablecloth Tutorial
 Now, how many cuts?  Figure out the circumference of your table.
Circumference = diameter of the table x 3.14
My table is 45″ in diameter, so 45″ x 3.14 = a circumference of 141″  I am going to need to ruffle strips of tulle so that, once ruffled, the tulle goes all the way around the circumference of the table.  So, when I ruffled one strip of tulle, it gave me 12″ to work with.
Tutu Tablecloth Tutorial
141.3″ (circumference) divided by 12″ = approximately 12 ruffled cuts of tulle.  AND I WENT AROUND TWICE for enough fluff.  So that’s 24 ruffled cuts of tulle.  Are you with me?
You’re cutting along your yardage, right?  So, multiply the desired length (28″) of your strip by the number of cuts that you’ll need (24 cuts) and you’ll get your total inches of needed tulle (672″).  Now, divide by 36″ in a yard (672/36) equals approximately 19 yards of tulle.  (I did a lot of rounding here, so just follow the calculations on your calculator and then add a yard or two extra to your order for “just in case.”)
Here’s your condensed math equation:
TOTAL TULLE YARDAGE= ((2 x (table diameter x 3.14)) / ruffled width of tulle) x desired length of tablecloth – then divide that whole number by 36″ to convert inches into yards.
Is your head spinning yet?  I seriously had no idea I was going to be typing up such complicated calculations.  If you prefer, you can just buy a truckload of tulle and go forward blindly.
So, you’ll cut all of your tulle to desired length of tablecloth, then ruffle away.  Just feed one piece after the next into your sewing machine (please use a ruffling foot – PLEASE!!).  You can refer to the nice visual of this in my Pettiskirt Tutorial if that helps.
Then, sew the ruffled tulle around the edge of the cut tabletop piece.  Sew the tulle onto the right side of the tabletop fabric, with raw edges matched.  Be sure to stitch inside (to the left of) the stitching on your tulle so that it doesn’t show on your finished tablecloth.
Tutu Tablecloth Tutorial
Go all the way around twice with your tulle (I doubled up the tulle from the start and just went around once.  You also might be able to ruffle two strips of tulle together from the beginning, but I didn’t try it.)  Flip the tulle down and you’re done!!  You could press the seam a little if you want, but DON’T touch the tulle with the iron or it will melt!!!
Tutu Tablecloth Tutorial
Gorgeous tablecloth!
Make this BEAUTIFUL tutu tablecloth!

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Lace Crowns DIY (the original)  and new Tips for Perfect Lace Crowns

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Filed Under: Crafting, Parties, Patterns and Tutorials, Popular Posts, Sewing Tagged With: fabric, party decor, ruffles, tutu tablecloth

A Sweet Slumber Party

October 3, 2012 by girlinspired 23 Comments

Ready for some slumber party pictures?  I hope so because the pictures are plentiful!  
This party was my favorite yet!  Small (though definitely not quiet!) with a few good friends.  Olivia’s seventh birthday – I love this girl so much!
 Graham and I got to soak up the celebration and the preparations were just as crafty and fun, but without all the stress.  I finished most of the crafting in the weeks leading up to the party and spent the few days before converting my family room into the party place.  I removed almost all of my regular mantle and family room decor, and I shopped around the house to redecorate with pink and grey girly decorations.  
This was so much fun!  We put two mattresses in the family room for the girls to all sleep on, along with a pile of blankets and pillows.  
The girls helped themselves to popcorn and a candy/snack bar throughout the night.  It was the perfect setup for a girly night of giggling, movie-watching, and sugar indulgence.  
Breakfast was a BIG hit!! 
For breakfast we served mini pancakes (pre-made a few days prior and frozen), donut hole fruit skewers (as seen on Pinterest), sausages, and whipped cream, mini-chocolate chips, and sprinkles for pancake toppings.  

The girls went home with their own little dollies that they got to make.  If you ever have a small, slumber party, this is THE activity for you!  Every single one of them just ate it up – LOVED making their very own doll.  It was awesome.  
Okay – that’s all I have to blab about for now, but if you haven’t had enough, you can keep scrolling for more purdy pictures!
  
Thanks for hanging out! 

Filed Under: Parties Tagged With: crafts, family stories, party, party decor, sweet treats

Little Doll Garland

September 20, 2012 by girlinspired 10 Comments

 Things are a little quiet here on the blog because things are crazy busy here in the house.  

 I’m crafting up some things for Olivia’s upcoming birthday party.  Being the shy girl that she is, she asked to just have a couple friends over for a sleepover.  I jumped on the chance to make this little doll garland that I had pinned quite a while back – one little doll for each friend who will be at the party.  I’m kind of in love with how cute it is.  
Olivia sat next to me as I finished each one up and set each one in a little makeshift doll bed.  They are going to get played with so much when I snip their hand strings after the party!!  It was a lot of fun adding little clothing and hair details to each girl.  
I followed Charla Anne’s doll templates exactly, but I got a little lazy and used heat ‘n’ bond lite to adhere the front and back together for all of the felt pieces.  Actually, for the relevant pieces, I adhered two pieces of felt together, then traced the template onto freezer paper, ironed the freezer paper onto the doubled felt, then cut once for each piece.  I think that the stitching on the original dolls is really darling, though, and I’ll probably go back when I have more time and stitch around the face, hands, and feet (this won’t be any problem with the lite Heat ‘n’ Bond).  You could use something with a stronger bond if you don’t want to do all the stitching.  
Alrighty!  Back to the crafting…what are you working on?  Have you tried any projects off of Pinterest lately?  LOVE this project!  Go get the doll tutorial at love Charla Anne, plus she has the most beautiful photography on her blog. 

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Positively Splendid

Filed Under: Crafting, Sewing, Sewing Ideas and Inspiration Tagged With: baby dolls, crafts, fabric, party decor

Mermaid Party: The Paper Products

July 5, 2012 by girlinspired 8 Comments

I love the look of paper crafts – all the adorable custom invitations and clever food labels you see out there – love it!  But I don’t have the patience for it.  It’s ironic that I love blogging so much, but when it comes to graphic design, my motivation goes down the drain.  And designing with real paper and art supplies takes me a looooong time.  And I dislike my handwriting which leads me back to graphic design on the computer, even if it’s just for text.  Therefore….mermaid party guests received email invitations this year and paper products were kept to just a few pretties.  

Plastic drink bottles accented with ribbons and a mermaid sticker were quick to make – the kids helped me while dinner was cooking one evening and we were done in no time! 
 I punched scalloped circles from white sticker paper (which you can purchase at an office supply store) and stamped a mermaid in the center.  We stuck it on the bottle, tied a couple ribbons around the rim, and added a cute straw.  Stripey straws make everything more fun – truly, they do.  Parents could write in their child’s name to keep track of germ sharing.  An extra handful of plain white scalloped stickers were provided for adults to write their name and label a mason jar for their own beverage. 
 
I also picked up some bottles of bubbles and gave them a 5-minute makeover by hot gluing strips of paper around the centers and popping on a mermaid sticker.  
Same mermaid stamp that we used for the cupcake toppers, see?  I suppose you could color and glitter them in for the stickers, too, but I was going for quick!
And that about sums up my custom paper crafts for the mermaid party! 

More Mermaid Party Details and Projects

Molded Candy Seashells

Mermaid Birthday Party

Ocean Waves Ombre Cake - Tutorial

Beach Signs - DIY

Fabric Strip Banner

30-minute Mermaid Skirt Tutorial

Filed Under: Crafting, Parties Tagged With: mermaid party, paper crafts, party decor

Mermaid Birthday Party

July 2, 2012 by girlinspired 50 Comments

We did it!!  We celebrated Addie’s third birthday in major mermaid style.  And I think all of the kids had as much fun as I did!  All of the creative elements of the party came together just as I had envisioned and I think it was pretty darn amazing (am I allowed to say that?)  We transformed our hot, weedy outdoor space into quite the beachy destination and I’m really excited to have that space to hang out in now that the party is over!!  In fact, we were out there all day Sunday, and Graham and I even sneaked down there after the kids were in bed to have a glass of wine in the peaceful evening with our lantern candles flickering – bliss!
 I have a lot I’d like to share about the party and some tutorials planned, but I’m going to just overload you with pictures today and then, when my brain functioning returns, I’ll post more of the details – assuming you’re interested, that is.  It’s sort of a weird thing – this blogging gig – because I feel like I’m talking to you, but I don’t really have any clue if you’re interested…good with a little info….wanting more details or more pictures or tutorials or maybe just something else entirely?  Such a guessing game, so speak up, I’m listening, okay??  Now… here’s a snapshot (or many) of the party:
 
 My beautiful birthday mermaid!  I think she looks pretty dreamy in her cute swimsuit and pettiskirt (full tutorial here) made by her mama.
 
Dining for mermaids and mermen – kid menu items included: goldfish, chips, watermelon, terriyaki chicken wings, and mac and cheese shells.
 
If you can’t have your mermaid party at the beach, you can have the beach delivered to you!  I knew it would be cool to have a sand pile, but I didn’t anticipate just how much it would round out the beachy feel of the party.  AND now my girls want to live outside covered in sand.  They played pirates all day after the party and built a super cool “pirate ship” – see?
 
 
One of my favorite spaces for long term potential – this is across from our kiddie pool – great for hanging towels and admiring my – let’s call it whimsical – beachy art (get the beach art how-to here).
 
Homemade taffy.  It’s not that the party needed homemade taffy, but how much fun is it to have a great excuse to give taffy-making a try?
 
The fabric banner found a nice place hanging above the seashell painting area.  I kind of love this little seashell sign I painted up, but maybe not as much as I love this next sign….
 
I thought this would be a good spot for naughty children to have a time out.  The Crab Shack – get it?  sorry….I entertain myself with that kind of humor.  Okay, moving on…
 
More candy on the dessert table – this is candy sea glass, candy making doesn’t get easier than this one!  And I can’t get over how great raw sugar works as “sand.”  Thank you, Pinterest, once again.
 
A zoomed out shot of the dessert table mostly set – I also had cupcakes out here, but they didn’t make it down from the house in time for their photo shoot.  Do you recognize the dessert table?
 
 It’s the bake shop from Olivia’s butterfly tea party – bake shop turned ‘beach hut’!!
 
 And as long as we’re talking about dessert, let’s squeeze in some more yummy pictures of candy and cake.  The candy seashells turned out pretty on top of that ocean-y cake, right?
 
I hear the cake was delicious – chocolate with rasberry filling and lemon with rasberry filling, frosted with swiss meringue buttercream.  I’m not usually one for fads, but the ombre ruffles were a must for this cake!!  (Full tutorial for the decorating the cake here.)
A pre-party picture of the cupcakes.  I love those mermaid cupcake toppers!
Pillows are so simple to make – I whipped up a pile of them to cozy up the party space and add some extra color. (Read all about the pillows here.)  I used remnants from the quilts I’m working on for the girls’ room so that the pillows are ready to accent their beds should I ever finish the quilts!!
 
 
And, finally, I even handed off the camera to get my picture taken with the birthday girl herself!!
 
Alright!  Happy Monday everyone!  It’s a new week, a new month, and I have just tossed my mermaid party to-do list in the trash.  Checkity-check-check-check!!  What are you working on?

Filed Under: Crafting, Parties, Sewing Tagged With: cake, mermaid party, outdoor decor, party decor, seashells, sweet treats

Fabric Strip Banner

June 11, 2012 by girlinspired 9 Comments

Have you seen these banners made from strips of fabric yet?  They’re popping up all over the internet and I think they make such fun backdrops for parties, particularly dessert tables.  I made one last week in preparation for Addie’s upcoming birthday party. 

I used about 2 yards of fabric total, cutting 2-2.5″ wide strips selvage to selvage from a variety of aqua/teal fabrics.  You simply take a long ribbon and knot the strips of fabric around the ribbon. 

Ten minutes later and you’ve got yourself a great little decoration.  The party is still a couple weeks away, but I am loving the festive colors draped up on my antique cubbies in the sewing room. 

 
We’re still working on the chicken coop, but I’m happy to report the chickens have officially moved in.  Summer vacation has begun and we’re looking forward to some quality pajama time.  Most of my sewing time is dedicated to the girls’ scallop quilts, but I did get to sew up the sweetest little dress for Miss Addison.  I’ll be sharing that tomorrow along with a giveaway I know you’re going to love, so be sure to stop back in!!

Filed Under: Crafting, Patterns and Tutorials, Sewing Tagged With: fabric, party decor

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It is my hope that you will find inspiration on the Girl. Inspired. blog. All photos are copyright protected by Girl. Inspired. If you wish to share something that you have seen here, I am absolutely thrilled! Please use only one picture with a direct link back to the project you are referencing. Thank you so much for your understanding!

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