I’m going to do a photography session with my newborn niece, C., on Sunday.  She was born exactly 1 month ago.  She’s the 2nd child of my brother, who also has a 2 year-old girl, M.  I’m nervous and excited!  It has been really hard breaking out of my shell to ask to shoot other people (I’m extremely shy), and I feel as if I haven’t made any progress with getting my photography business off the ground in that respect.  Sunday’s session will be a step in the right direction!

My nervousness has kept me extremely busy all week.  This is such a great opportunity, but I don’t want to bungle it and not accomplish all the ideas that I have.  I have so much preparation to do–getting props together, working out my lighting set-ups, and working on my session skills.

I went shopping at the mall yesterday to hunt down some newborn hats for C.  When I wandered into Pottery Barn Kids, I saw such an adorable tutu.  It would have been perfect for M. to wear.  It was hot pink, made of tulle, and had lovely flowers encased inside the skirt.  I knew that I wanted to eventually buy a pettiskirt to have in my studio wardrobe, but I also knew that I didn’t have enough time to order one for Sunday.  This tutu was a perfect for the short term.  I wanted to buy it but hesitated because it was $40–not unreasonably expensive, but just costly enough to make me think.  I looked at the tutu more closely and realized that it really had the most basic skirt construction.  There were no curves, panels, or gores.  The flowers were fake and just pulled off from its fake stems.  The waist was made from ribbon with elastic on the inside.  I could make this!

So, off to the fabric store I went.  I found some light pink organza ribbon to make the waistband.  I found a fake purple hydrangea for the petals.  I bought 2 yards of hot pink tulle, which I folded over three times to give the skirt some visual fullness.  For $16 in materials and two hours of my time, I made a just-as-adorable tutu of my own.

The only thing of which I’m unsure is the tutu’s durability.  Tulle is so delicate and snags so easily.  I’ll have to see how it holds up against the forces of a real child.  Nevertheless, I’m pleased with how it turned out.

Here are some pictures of the tutu I made.  It’s light and airy, and the details are delicious.  Now, on to more nervous preparations!