Sewing Ballet Costumes: Patterns & Resources
If you’ve been following along on Instagram, you’ll know that I’ve recently been tasked by my daughter’s ballet studio with sewing a new solo costume for the part of Dove of Peace for this year’s Nutcracker. My 16-year-old daughter Natalie will be dancing the part this year, so I was VERY excited to say yes!
The studio owner pretty much gave us creative license, but definitely wanted it to use a white platter tutu, for which we can make an overlay. Then Natalie and I could decide what to do for the top. We spent the entire drive home that night talking about our ideas and came up with a plan. So fun!
She knew she wanted a corseted bodice, which is pretty standard for ballet solo costumes, but which I have actually never sewn before. I knew I could do it, but I was really hoping to find a pattern to use, rather than having to draft one based on one of her other costumes. I set out looking for pattern companies that sell sewing patterns for ballet corsets, tutus, basques, overplates, etc… Bonus if they were PDF patterns, since I have a bit of a time crunch here (picture day is in October).
Luckily, I had great success in the pattern hunt! I have written another post on dancewear sewing patterns and that post has remained surprisingly popular for a few years now, so I knew I had to share these resources for more advanced ballet costume patterns too!
So here is my new list of ballet costume pattern companies AND some of the notions I’ve bought for the process on Amazon that I couldn’t find locally. I’ve never been so happy to be a Prime member! If you need to learn how to sew a ballet tutu or corseted bodice, or any other ballet costume piece, this post will give you all the resources you need.
Of course I’ll share the entire costume here when it’s finished! I plan to finish this weekend, so stay tuned for all those details in the coming weeks.
This post may contain affiliate links, which means that while I am not paid to promote certain items, I will earn a small commission should you purchase items through these links. For more info, see my disclosure policy.
Ballet Costume Sewing Patterns: Tutus, Bodices, & More
I was excited to find three amazing pattern companies for ballet costume sewing.
Tutus That Dance This site sells ballet patterns for skirts, bodices, menswear and and accessories. They’re labeled by level of skill, too, from beginner to advanced. Note that you purchase the pattern and instructions separately, which can make this site more costly, but I truly feel the cost is worth it for such quality patterns.
Tutu.com This option sells bodice and tutu patterns, as well as some other common ballet costume patterns, like an Arabian costume (for Nutcracker). It also has some headpiece instructions and I’m most intrigued by their tutu plate pattern with 8 variations. If I hadn’t been able to figure mine out on my own, I would have purchased that pattern.
Tutu Patterns This site is the most straightforward and it’s also easy to navigate. It has the basic bodice designs, plus patterns for the four main types of tutus.
All of these sites had the patterns I was looking for and all offered printable pdf ballet costume patterns, hooray! I ended up purchasing the Classic Bodice pattern from the third company on my list, tutupatterns.com. I chose it because the instructions are included with the pattern, whereas on the other sites, you purchase the bodice instructions separately from the pattern. I also really loved that I could measure Natalie and purchase the correct size in that one size!
The instructions have exceeded my expectations! While this is obviously an advanced sewing project and the pattern is written for someone with a certain level of skills, it still includes small tips that are industry specific, which I’ve found very helpful. I also appreciated the fabric and supply chart at the very beginning.
I put the instructions in a binder and will keep the pattern pieces in there in a clear sleeve as well, for safe keeping for next time.
The bodice is the only pattern I’ve needed to buy, since I decided to use my math skills and figure out the tutu overlay myself. But, I feel so much more confident knowing there are great patterns out there if I need them!
Supplies & Notions for Ballet Costume Sewing
Now for the supplies!
Dancewear requires some pretty unique notions and I sometimes have a hard time finding them locally where I live. I have been SO thankful to have Amazon Prime this week! Like I said, I’m on a time crunch for this project, so I just can’t afford to wait a week or two by ordering things from all over the place, hoping they’re the right thing. I’m lucky enough to live next door to a city with an Amazon distribution center, so I could order up a notion and receive it the very next day. If you’re not a Prime member, click here to try it out for free! If you’ve never thought to order your sewing sewing notions there, here’s a list of my favorites.
I was able to purchase certain things on Amazon for half the price of JoAnn (I know y’all don’t need me to rant again about Joann prices, haha. I actually did buy the fabrics and some lace for this costume there, but I was mad about it! So overpriced!)
Anyway, ahem …
Here are the notions and embellishments I got on Amazon for this project:
Dritz Ballet Elastic (so cheap!!) This is for the straps.
Dritz Featherlite Boning for the corseted bodice. I hadn’t sewn anything with boning before, so this was exciting! This product is great.
Feather applique for embellishment. Amazon has a TON of beautiful appliques! This costume is a dove, so we wanted some feathers, but it also needs to be washable to a degree, so appliques won out over actual feathers that would break with heavy use. This came with a six yards for super cheap, so I have plenty to play with.
Hook & Eye Tape. Again, super inexpensive and way more than I’ll ever need. This notion is important because it’s much sturdier than hand sewn hooks and eyes could ever be. A corset fits very snugly and a dance costume gets put through the ringer when in use! This product also makes it easy to alter to fit different dancers, since you can have a few different rows of hooks.
1” Braided elastic for the waistband of the tutu overlay.
Buttonhole Elastic & buttons. This attaches the tutu overlay waistband to the inside waistline of the bodice, so it all stays where it belongs , while still allowing for full range of motion for the dancer.
Dritz is always a winner of a brand for me. They just seem to have everything and I can always trust it will be a reliable product. In fact, I’m finally going to order a dress form and I’ve picked this one! I’m hoping to purchase it in the next couple weeks. I’ll be sure and review it after I get to know it!
Supplies & Notions for Ballet Costume Sewing
Now for the supplies!
Dancewear requires some pretty unique notions and I sometimes have a hard time finding them locally where I live. I have been SO thankful to have Amazon Prime this week! Like I said, I’m on a time crunch for this project, so I just can’t afford to wait a week or two by ordering things from all over the place, hoping they’re the right thing. I’m lucky enough to live next door to a city with an Amazon distribution center, so I could order up a notion and receive it the very next day. If you’re not a Prime member, click here to try it out for free! If you’ve never thought to order your sewing sewing notions there, here’s a list of my favorites.
I was able to purchase certain things on Amazon for half the price of JoAnn (I know y’all don’t need me to rant again about Joann prices, haha. I actually did buy the fabrics and some lace for this costume there, but I was mad about it! So overpriced!)
Anyway, ahem …
Here are the notions and embellishments I got on Amazon for this project:
Dritz Ballet Elastic (so cheap!!) This is for the straps.
Dritz Featherlite Boning for the corseted bodice. I hadn’t sewn anything with boning before, so this was exciting! This product is great.
Feather applique for embellishment. Amazon has a TON of beautiful appliques! This costume is a dove, so we wanted some feathers, but it also needs to be washable to a degree, so appliques won out over actual feathers that would break with heavy use. This came with a six yards for super cheap, so I have plenty to play with.
Hook & Eye Tape. Again, super inexpensive and way more than I’ll ever need. This notion is important because it’s much sturdier than hand sewn hooks and eyes could ever be. A corset fits very snugly and a dance costume gets put through the ringer when in use! This product also makes it easy to alter to fit different dancers, since you can have a few different rows of hooks.
1” Braided elastic for the waistband of the tutu overlay.
Buttonhole Elastic & buttons. This attaches the tutu overlay waistband to the inside waistline of the bodice, so it all stays where it belongs , while still allowing for full range of motion for the dancer.
Dritz is always a winner of a brand for me. They just seem to have everything and I can always trust it will be a reliable product. In fact, I’m finally going to order a dress form and I’ve picked this one! I’m hoping to purchase it in the next couple weeks. I’ll be sure and review it after I get to know it!
I promise I’ll be back very soon with the full details of this ballet costume project! We’ll of course do a photo shoot with it when it’s ready :)
Cheers!
Nikki