For the Love of Tutus
December 18, 2016

For Sara Bacon, sewing tutus is a passion and a livelihood.

Sara Bacon started making costumes when her daughter was a dancer. Soon, tutu construction became Bacon’s full-time job. In this new video from LA Weekly, she explains how she works with clients—mostly Youth America Grand Prix dancers—who commission her to create the perfect costume to accompany their solos.

Each intricate tutu is like a child or a grandchild to her, she says. When she attends YAGP finals, she can spot years’ worth of work onstage, because dancers loan or rent their tutus—which take Bacon up to 80 hours to make and can cost thousands of dollars—to other competitors.

She says she created this job for herself by doing what she loves—and this onetime dance mom loves creating beautiful costumes. Watch her in time lapse as she finishes a cropped-bodice look for Le Corsaire.

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