In September this year I had a rush on white tutus. Here are a few pictures of Paquita Etoile, and La Bayadere and the Snow Queen. I also made a Paquita Grand Pas but that will be the subject of a separate post.
For the La Bayadere tutu I used white appliques on white lycra with crystal AB rhinestones and translucent sequins to highlight the white on white design.
For the skirt I reprised the plate I used for the pale blue prizewinner tutu although I offset the petals a little differently.
The petals were constructed from tulle edged with white venise lace.
I used a heavy gold venise lace for the Paquita Etoile tutu and embellished it with gold and crystal AB rhinestones.
To keep a nice long line through the tutu it’s important to continue the bodice colour down over the hips. That’s why a matching plate is often used. In this case there was no plate just a lace overlay. To effect the continuity of the bodice colour down across the hips I mounted the lace on soft white tulle that gathered tightly close to the bodice.
The tulle gives a lovely soft look to the tutu.
I had a special request to continue the detail around the back of the tutu as the dancer has a lovely flexible back and we wanted to bring attention to it.
The Snow Queen tutu is the first asymmetrical tutu I’ve made for a long time. The brief was to decorate the tutu with a swirl of snow across the bodice spilling onto the skirt.
I used crystal AB rhinestones on the silver venise lace.
The plate had a side swoop where rhinestones tumbled across the skirt. The red cast on the stones was just reflection of the early morning sun.