I've been itching to share these with somebody because they are SO unbelievably simple to make that you could easily do this with children if they are old enough to follow a few instructions... In fact the idea came to me one night as I was dozing and thinking of things I remember making as a little girl and tissue paper flowers - made by folding layers if tissue together before opening them out - emerged from my memory. "what if I made them with tulle" was my immediate thought as I was trying to think of a way to make hair accessories to match the tutus.
Oh I just HAD to try it out as soon as possible but the tulle was safely ensconced under our bed, which needs to be lifted up to access the storage underneath, and my husband was asleep and might be mildly perturbed at bring inverted suddenly in his sleep at 11.30 at night... So I waited not so patiently (and had a good deal of trouble getting to sleep that night too) desperate to try out my idea and show it to the lovely dance instructor who had entrusted me with project tutu. It not only worked but she loved them and they became a part of the whole project and those little 4-6-year-olds looked unbearably adorable in them, which is the way of little girls of course. So here is how to make one yourself ;;
Supplies needed;
- 4 small rectangles of tulle in contrasting colours cut approximately 14 x 20cm (this is a rough guide - you could use more layers or larger/ smaller rectangles)
- Some yarn/ ribbon or similar
- A hair clip or bobby pin to attach it to
Instructions
Stack the rectangles of tulle together, alternating the colours (the light is so bad at the moment that the colours look very odd in these pictures so I apologise in advance. The background is bright white paper if you can believe it!!)
Fold the stack about 2cm from the end along the shorter side.
Fold it under 2cm along the same side, then fold it over by 2cm.
Repeat until you have a little fan of tulle.
Securely tie the tulle fan directly in the centre using the yarn/ ribbon- you could leave it like this in a neat little bow if you wanted
At this point I like to snip the corners of the stack to make it a bit more fluffy, though this isn't essential.
Lie the bow down and pull the top layer of tulle away from the others on both sides of the bow (these pictures were taken without the corners snipped off but you get the idea!)
Continue with the remaining layers of tulle so none of the layers are lying flat together- it is now more like a flower or Pom Pom and not remotely like a bow
Attach to your hair clip/ hair band/ hat/ brooch... Whatever you like really! You don't have to use tulle but it holds the pom pom shape better than others; you could perhaps layer the tulle with other fabrics - the possibilities are endless.
Have fun!
