It’s been a month of impatience and excitement for me. I’ve been waiting by the computer like a kid on Christmas Eve. Slowly last week reviews came back from my incredible Ella Stretch Tutu sewing pattern testers.

The Ella Stretch Tutu sewing pattern has been an idea in the back of my mind for several years now. This year I finally had the time (and motivation) to make that idea come to life.

The Tutu Dream!

I love tutu’s. They are the embodiment of grace and poise. I love the excitement on young dancers faces when they put on a tutu for the first time and feel like the most beautiful ballerina in the room.

The first tutu I made was a self drafted, boned tutu in cream stretch sateen. I made it for my tiny dancers first ever competition. After that I went on a bit of a journey with boned tutu’s, perfecting my sewing technique and my patterns. Following boned tutu’s I went on a bit of a leotard obsession. I worked on creating leotards that both fit nicely and had interesting features.

Being a dance mum, I spend most days in a studio waiting room. I often get messages from other dance mums who need help with whatever costume they are currently working on. The most frequent costume people seem to have issues with sewing is the tutu.

Making The Pattern

After years of competitions (dancing myself and now watching my little dancer), I’ve seen A LOT of tutus and I know what I like and don’t like. I set out to make a tutu sewing pattern with great shape and balance that came together easily. I knew I wanted to include a good selection of sizes because every body is a dance body. So far I have made sizes from a child 2 to an adults 16.

The Ella Stretch Tutu sewing pattern has the sweetheart shape I love, a paneled bodice for structure, and a NZ/AUS length skirt (we like them longer) which I think balances the body better. I’m also a big fan of the butt ruffle on a tutu.

Pattern completed, I needed someone else to take a look at my work.

After putting out a request for pattern testers, sewers with varied sewing experience were selected across the 11 tutu sizes available. My goal was to ensure that each pattern was well tested. I also wanted to know that it was easy enough for even a beginner sewer to tackle. After sewing an Ella tutu, a list of questions on the following topics were tackled by each amazing pattern tester:

The Pattern:

The Fit:

Instructions:

After some minor tweaks to the instruction booklet. The Ella stretch tutu sewing pattern is now ready to be released.

The Ella Stretch Tutu sewing pattern allows you to sew your own gorgeous, stretch, pancake tutu at home. This tutu is perfect for competitions, recitals or just for a fun costume. It is a print-at-home A4 or copy shop A0 sewing pattern which comes with an easy to follow tutu sewing guide.

Our step-by-step guide takes you through the process of making your tutu from printing the pattern to finishing. We’ve included written instructions and photographs so that each step is easy and enjoyable. It is filled with incredible tips and tricks to help make sewing a tutu a success.

Why should you sew a stretch tutu?

The beauty of a great stretch tutu is that it grows and moves with your dancer. They are an economical option during fast growing years, and perfect for dance schools costuming various body shapes. Stretch tutus are comfortable to wear. They’re also very forgiving for dancers who don’t fall into set measurements on a size chart.

The Ella Stretch Tutu is incredibly easy to sew – especially with our easy step-by-step instruction guide by your side.

Store your Ella Tutu right and it will definitely last! Tutus can be sold on very easily in dance competition circles or passed down to a younger sibling.

Get your Ella Stretch Tutu sewing pattern PDF now!

Click through to our Sewing Patterns page by clicking the image below or head to our SHOP to get your hands on the Ella Stretch Tutu sewing pattern today!

Sewing a tutu for yourself or your dancer has never been so easy!

Have you used one of our sewing patterns? Send a photo to developpedancewearnz@gmail.com to be featured on our Instagram and Facebook pages or tag us!

I have more sewing patterns currently in the works. Want to be a pattern tester? Be sure to join the mailing list and be the first to find out about new products, patterns, events and deals!

Tips for parents, dancers and teachers

Instagram is an incredible tool when it comes to making connections, getting inspiration and building communities. The dance content on Instagram is overwhelming and spectacular. I can certainly understand the allure for young dancers to create their own Instagram accounts. While the internet is definitely a fun place, the internet is also definitely not a safe place. This is why we’re looking at the importance of keeping dancers safe on Instagram.

Currently children under 13 are prohibited from having an Instagram account not run by a parent or manager.

Recently there has been movement by social media owners to target young children and get them using their platforms. Messenger Kids allows children to have a parent controlled social media platform in order to chat and share with their friends. The concern here is the risk factors associated with giving young people access to platforms that they are not ready or prepared for.

On the back of an internal memo published by BuzzFeed, Action Network have released a petition ‘Tell Facebook to abandon its plans to target young children on Instagram’. It looks like it’s only a matter of time before the under 13’s will be able to have their own Instagram platform. With that in mind, it’s up to parents and teachers to create rules around responsible internet use.

In my dance competition community, I see Instagram pages for dancers popping up all the time. The youngest Instagram page holding dancer in my community is only 5 years old. When my dancer made the decision to work toward dancing professionally, I looked into the value of starting an Instagram account for her. In the end I decided that introducing a childs Instagram account was not for our family, but I’m sure that eventually it will have to happen.

Whether run by a parent or a teenage student, safety should be at the forefront of all social media use. Safety covers mental health, bullying and physical safety as well as preparing your dancer for the possibility of creepers. Keeping dancers safe on Instagram is the responsibility of the whole community.

So with that in mind, here are a few suggestions to help with keeping dancers safe on Instagram

Set up Parent Controls on your dancers Instagram page

When your dancer is young, understanding parent controls is key when it comes to keeping dancers safe on Instagram. If you have a parent run Instagram account for your dancer there are a lot of great websites out there that will walk you through the process to set up parent controls on your dancers Instagram account.

If you have a parent run Instagram account state that in the Instagram bio. Sometimes knowing that mum or dad is in the background checking the messages is enough to deter creepers and bullies. Visit Instagram’s Tips for Parents page for more info.

If your dancer is posting off their own device then having a log in to their Instagram on your device can make it easy to monitor who is following them and how they’re interacting with your dancer.

Choose Your Privacy Settings

If your goal is to build a large audience then having a public Instagram account makes sense. If however your goal is to share pictures/videos only with close friends or family then having a private account is the way to go.

The Développé Dancewear Instagram account is public. My own personal account is set to private. My private account is where I share most of my dancers dance news for my family and friends.

Never Post Your Location

A common thing on dancers Instagram accounts is the name of the dance studio that dancers train at. It’s awesome that dancers are proud of their studio. However if you take the dancers studio plus the dancers name, a picture of the dancer in their dance school jacket and a picture of the competition that you’re currently at, you have a potential safety issue.

Even on private Instagram accounts the information in the dancers bio is visible to everyone. It’s important to create the bio purposefully with safety in mind.

It’s understandable that a dancer might want to tag their dance school if they’re doing a show or competition. If you’re going to allow that then I really recommend that dancers keep other identifying information private.

Don’t Use Your Name

Teens who are working on making a name for themselves might want to use their name so that they get it out there. For young dancers though this isn’t so critical. It is possible to only use a first name, or to create an alter ego name so that personal details aren’t so readily available. It is also important that dancers know never to give out their name or any other personal information (phone number, address, school) to anyone via private message or in their feed.

Never Post in Real Time

This loops back to not posting your location. At a competition? Posting a picture or video stating where you are and how your dancer looks opens them up to attracting creepers. Save those posts until after you leave.

Monitor who your dancer is following and who is following your dancer

Creepers are of course the big thing here. Monitoring how people are interacting with your dancer and their images is critical when it comes to keeping dancers safe. But creepers aren’t the only thing you should be monitoring. In 2018, NZ was the 3rd highest country in the world when it comes to cyberbullying. Dance communities can be supportive and encouraging but one only needs to have danced to know that they can also be the polar opposite.

Monitoring how followers are engaging with your dancers Instagram is important when it comes to keeping your dancer emotionally safe. Use the block button if your dancer isn’t being respected, and report back to the dance school if any drama is coming from other students.

Everyone is perfect on Instagram. Set realistic expectations for your dancer

The dance world on Instagram is crazy. Dancers are more flexible than ever before and leaps and turns are everywhere. It’s important that dancers know that every dancer is on their own journey and they are only competing with themselves. Young people often believe that what is presented on Instagram is a reflection of that dancers life. They don’t see the work and struggles in the background. Talk to your dancer about how dancers present themselves on Instagram, and how your dancer intends to present themself.

Create an environment that encourages open dialogue

Create an environment that encourages open discussion without punishment. This will help if dancers need to tell you about something that has happened online but are worried that they may lose their Instagram if you know about it. Sit down together before their Instagram account is set up and set rules around what kind of content is acceptable, and what content is unacceptable. This will help to set boundaries for your dancer. Good boundaries will assist them in identifying when accounts they are following may not be posting appropriate content for them. If all parents did this it would help with keeping dancers safe on Instagram.

Have an open discussion about how your dancer is allowed to interact with others on Instagram. They need to know what is acceptable when others are interacting with their account. They also need know know what to do if things go wrong.

If a dancer approaches you with concern around something that has happened online, tell them that you are proud of them for talking to you about it. Talk to them calmly and come to a solution together. This will encourage more open conversation next time.

BLOCK & REPORT

If you are concerned about the way someone is interacting with your dancer, report the interaction and block the concerning account. It’s important to report the interaction because if someone is being creepy or nasty with your dancer then chances are they’re behaving that way with others.

If bullying is coming from someone who has their dance school listed, screenshot the interaction and send a copy to their dance school so the behaviour can be dealt with internally.

Safety is a community responsibility. When you join a community like dance you become responsible for the people in that community. If you are blocking and reporting unacceptable messages for your dancer then you should be reporting any creepy messages you see targeting other dancers too. As I said earlier, keeping dancers safe on Instagram is a community responsibility.

Following these suggestions will help with keeping dancers safe on Instagram. Do you have any other tips to help with keeping dancers stay safe on Instagram? Post them below!

Get your free Keeping Dancers Safe on Instagram poster for your home, dance school or your dancers room/studio. Just download, print, laminate and display!

Dance class etiquette is a hot topic in my household. My dancer is a real stickler for dance class rules and she tends to be mighty unimpressed when those rules are not followed. After all, a dancer may be talented, but if they are not polite, hard working and focused, they will struggle in the dance world – and the world outside of dance too.

I believe that dance class etiquette is essential when it comes to creating a quality learning environment. Expectations should be laid out from day one. Basics like uniform and grooming are a great equaliser. They get students into the correct mindset before class. Being well groomed also sets a standard and shows that a dancer is proud of themselves and their studio.

Creating dance etiquette for yourself/your dancer/your studio means that dancers know exactly what is expected of them. Dance class etiquette helps to create a safe space for all students to learn and grow. Not all dance students will go on to be famous dancers, but they will all carry with them the lessons they have learned during their time in the studio. Discipline, respect, gratitude and a great work ethic are just some of the traits that well-trained dancers take into the world.

Being a bit of a stickler for the rules myself, I have created this beautiful Dance Class Etiquette poster. It’s perfect to display in your home, bedroom, dance journal or studio – or to send out with your newsletter. And did I mention it’s free?!

The poster is ready to go – Just download, print and laminate.

And while you’re in the shop why not check out our other free downloadables too!

What dance class etiquette rules do you think are most important?

Hello Développé Dancers! We’ve been quiet in this neck of the woods. This is in part because an exciting new project has been underway, which we are almost ready to share with the world! The first Développé Dancewear sewing pattern has been being created. We are now seeking awesome pattern testers to work through making the Ella Tutu using our pattern and instructions.

The Ella Tutu is made in stretch fabric with stiff tulle. To sew this pattern you will need a sewing machine that can manage zig zag stitching and you can use an overlocker to sew the leotard if you wish.

I have worked as a tester for many brands now. Below is a little FAQ list to help you get to know the ropes.

1. What do I have to do?
If you are selected as a pattern tester:

1. We’ll email you the PDF A4 (print at home) and A0 (print shop) sewing pattern in the one size you have requested. This will come with an instruction booklet and a list of questions to answer.

2. After you’ve made your tutu, you’ll need to email back with the answers to the questions and any other suggestions of things you think might be useful for us to put into the pattern (whether it’s fit issues, typos, missing information, instructions that are hard to understand etc).

The Ella Tutu sewing pattern will be sent out to testers 13.6.21 and must be sewn with feedback provided by 25.7.21.

2. Do I get paid to pattern test?
No you do not get paid to test our pattern. Instead you get a beautiful sewing pattern and instructions, and in the end a gorgeous costume piece that will make you wonder why you never tried sewing a tutu before! Once all feedback is collated and any changes are made, we’ll also send you a final copy of the updated pattern and instruction guide as a thank you.

3) How quickly will I need to sew this pattern?
In order to test this sewing pattern you must be able to sew the tutu before July 25th 2021. If you are unable to sew within this timeframe, please do not apply to be a pattern tester. There are more sewing patterns in the works and so there will definitely be another tester call out in time.

4) How do you pick who gets to be a tester?
We need sewing pattern testers across a range of sizes. We will be selecting testers for pattern sizes across the board. We’re interested in a range of sewing abilities and are keen to hear from all passionate home sewers. Let us know more about you and the dancer in your life in the additional info section of the form below!

5) Do I need to blog about it once the pattern is released?
We will not be giving preference to bloggers or the coolest people on Instagram. What we’re looking for from testers is honest feedback about the sewing pattern and its instructions. If you wish, you are more than welcome to blog about your experience with the pattern however we do ask that you wait until the pattern has officially been released first. And of course we would love to see photographs of your final tutu to share with our followers.

If this all sounds amazing and you’d love to be a tester, please check out our size charts, fill in the form below and we will be in contact if you’re selected to test the Ella Tutu. Please only select ONE size to test. Please don’t be disheartened if you are not selected as a pattern tester. We need testers across the size range. If we get a lot of requests for size 10-12 tutus, we won’t need everyone. More patterns are in the works so be sure to follow us on Instagram and Facebook!