TuTu Tutorial!

Today is a first for me, I am doing a tutorial! FUN!
So yesterday I ran in my 2nd ever 1/2 marathon. It was the Rock N Roll 1/2. It was awesome and I had a lot of fun running it. For those of you who dont know how far a 1/2 marathon is, its 13.1 miles. yep, thirteen point one. Its a long way.

 I wanted to make a tutu to wear to the race. So i did a google and youtube search and I looked at a few things and then I made my way to JoAnn fabrics.
 Here is what we do...

I got 3 different kinds of Tulle. 2 huge safety pins, and 2 strips of 1.5 inch elastic bands. and you need scissors. I thought I was gonna spend about $15, not. It was actually $40 for all of this. You are looking at 12 yards of tulle there folks. and that dark pink glitter one cost 5.99 a yard, so i only got 4 of that one.

you then take one of the strips of tulle, and roll it up. after you roll it up you cut it, just about every 3 inches. each little roll give you 2 LONG strips. However, i made the mistake of making them way too long for my first tutu and wasted alot of tulle b/c i ended up just cutting most of it off.
 So what I recommend ( and what i will do next time) is just roughly measure from your waist ( or wherever you plan on your elastic band going) and measure down to where you want your tutu to stop...and then double it ( b/c you fold each strip in1/2)

In the first pic above you can see that i tied a knot at the top. that was a waste of time, and not needed. So all you do is fold the strip in 1/2 make a loop at the top, and then pull the whole strip through it. thats it!


you then repeat about 100 times...

 there was tulle all over my floor. I left it there and went to bed. It took me about 2 good long hours to get this far. I had to work on it for about 15-20 minutes the next day. I had to also make a second one for my friend to wear. Hers took way less time than mine. Now that I have to hang of it. I plan to make a tutu for each and every race I run from now on. Its my new thing. LOL

 also- i secured it around me with ONE big safety pin. and it worked great!

This was me and kelly in line for the nasty portta potties right before the race. I finished in 2 hours and 44 minutes. Crazy. The last 1/4 mile is always emotional for me. My eyes fill with tears, I am thanking God for allowing me to to a 1/2 marathon, I am searching the crowds for Jasons face, I see hundred of people yelling and screaming and cheering and telling me that I am almost there. Its an amazing feeling. I pick up my pace and basically turn into a sprint for me. I can see the finish line and I just want to cross it.

The emcee comments on my tutu as I come running in, he yells my name and I can think is I DID IT I DID IT I DID IT and Thank God thats over!

What a challenge!
 If you havent done one..... do one! Its an amazing accomplishment!