Decorating with Tulle

Since tulle is a lightweight, “airy”, fine mesh material, it lends itself nicely to a variety of decorative applications.Especially more lighthearted events such as baby showers, wedding receptions, weddings and young girls birthdays.Tulle is a must for wedding favors and is perfects “fillers” at larger events. A nice spin on this timelessdecorating material are what are referred to as wedding “pom poms”, these consist of tulle and rhinestones.They can also be used as a tulle garland that you can string along door-openings, handrails or as a substitute forthe more traditional tulle pew bows. Without further ado, let’s get started.

Wedding Decoration Pom Poms

What you need:

50 yards of Tulle, the color of your choice (this will yield about 20 tulle poofs)

Rhinestone Stickers (8-12 per tulle poof) or thin wire

Wire Cutters

1 piece of scrap cardboard

Fishing line or ribbon

Scissors

Directions:

1. To make 1 poof, cut the tulle into 2 1/2″ long pieces.

2. Cut your cardboard into a 4″ x 6″ piece and wrap your length of tullewidth-wise around the cardboard until you reach the end. Then pull the tulle away from the cardboard without disturbing the shape.

3. Then take a piece of string or wire and tie it around the bundle of tulleto create a a bow-like shape.

4. Use the scissors and carefully cut each tulle bow end.

5. Proceed to make it into a “poof” by pulling the layers towards the center of the bow. This is where you fluff and shape it until it’s a nice symmetrical round poof. Some additional trimming may be necessary.

6. Randomly squeeze your rhinestones into place until they stick (glue can also be used).

7. Repeat steps 1 through 6 until you have the desired amount of tulle bows.

*For individuals:
slip fishing wire through the center of and then hang
*For garland:
slip the fishing wire through like you do for the individuals but keep stringing them along the line

Stumped for ideas on how to revamp and decorate an otherwise grim wedding reception? One simple solution that’s catching on is the use of Tulle as a plant base cover. This caught on as the result of some the restrictions that some churches place on what decorations they see fit to use. Meaning that some churches limit the amount of decor you can use inside, the workaround is making better use of the entry-way and steps via a tulle plant base. One great piece of advice that I heard recently was that to help maximize your budget one should utilize the decor that the church already available to cut costs. The plants might be all silk or they be a combination or real and silk, whatever the case you don’t want to pass on the opportunity to overlook free materials.

Tulle Plant Base

What you need:

1 to 2 inches of ribbon

1 to 2 yards of tulle for every plant and tree

Directions:
1. Place the base of the plant or tree in the center of your piece of tulle
2. Begin to wrap the tulle up the sides on the plant towards the top of the base
3. Using the ribbon, draw all sides of the top of the tulle together then make a bow

Remember when decorating that you should do so in threes, unless your doing something very symmetry driven (think lining each side of a staircase). Also, keep in mind of your surroundings to strategically cover up eye-sores such a utility box or light switch. Think and plan ahead then decorate, the decor will be much better and very little time will be wasted.

If you’ve already shopped around for tulle wedding veils then you’ve probably noticed how pricey they can be. Cheap ones start out at around $30 and the nicer ones can go for as much as several hundred. However, if you decide to make it on your own you can literally do it for dollars. It only takes a little bit of time, some basic sewing skills, and few tools and supplies to make it all come together. This is the ideal tutorial for anyone wanting to learn how to make a tulle wedding veil own there own. So without further ado, let’s begin!

What you need:

- Tulle (cut for length you desire)

- A sewing needle

- some sewing thread (color explained below)

- fabric glue

- fabric scissors

- hair comb

*You may also want to include some satin or cord for edging the veil, some embellishments such as sequins, and most likely a tiara or headband

It’s highly suggested that you bring a swatch of your wedding dress material that you intend to match with you. This will help ensure that both the tulle wedding veil that you’re about to make as well as your sewing thread will match perfectly with the rest of your tulle wedding dress. Keep in mind that you can never go off of the fabric name alone as most manufacturers shades of colors are all slightly different than one another.

Another helpful hint went shopping for discount tulle to make your first tulle wedding veil is to buy more than you need. You just never know when something may go wrong and you need to start over…practice makes perfect anyhow. After your tulle wedding veil project is complete, let’s just hope that it’s the last one you ever have to make if you know what I’m saying.

Step 1:

To create a single layer wedding veil, first gauge the length that you want the tulle wedding veil to be. Average length is between 25 and 30 inches, which will bring the veil to about the elbow area when sitting upright. *In wedding veils of more than one layer, the top layer is typically elbow length.

Standard veil lengths are as follows

- Shoulder 24 inches

- Elbow 30 inches

- Fingertip 40 inches

- Ballet/Waltz 52 inches

- Chapel 90 inches

- Cathedral 110 inches

So begin by using fabric scissors to cut the desired veil length you want.

Step 2:

Fold the tulle in half, length-wise and cut the bottom of the tulle so that you form a large “U” shape when it’s unfolded. This is done to help ensure that the shape at the bottom of the veil is a symmetrical shape. This is also the step where embellishments, if being used, should be incorporated onto the veil. Using either glue for rhinestones or sewing on sequins and what not.

Step 3:

Proceed to unfold the tulle and iron out any unsightly creases that are visible using a iron on extremely low heat. Then thread a needle with button thread, the extra strength of the button thread will help to hold and gather the tulle and sew it onto a comb. Next, you want to use a whip stitch technique to run some thread along the top edge of the tulle veil. Ease the tulle along by pushing it against the thread to assist in gathering it all up. Next, tie a knot to secure the tulle so that it is about three inches wide at the top, or the same width as the comb to which it will be all be attached to.

Step 4:

Using some more button thread, sew the gathered veil to a comb. A metal comb is preferred at this point since it has a lower profile and grips the hair better than plastic combs do.

Step 5:

After attaching the veil to the bridal loops, it is now ready to be attached to the hair using bobby pins or hair pins. You can also attach it directly to a tiara with snaps, or with velcro if the tiara is wide enough. Thin strips of velcro are sewn onto the tiara. This will allow the bride to wear the tiara during the reception and easily remove the veil at the same time.

- Take a look at other easy to do tulle wedding decorations