Beaded Tulle

What is beaded tulle?

• Beads on a fine tulle. Pearls, bugle beads, seed beads and crystals, from a light scatter to dense, all-over beading.
• Weight and light. The beading gives it a lovely weight and catches the light as you move.
• Ivory and colours. Mostly ivory, plus sand, gunmetal, gold, navy and black.

Embellished tulles side by side

Buying embellished tulle

Our embellished tulles come off the roll, so they're sold by the metre in longer lengths, not in panels like most of our lace. Most are 110 to 140 cm wide: each product shows its width.

What to make with it

• Bridal and evening bodices
• Sleeves, yokes and illusion backs
• Overlays on a gown or skirt
• Belts, straps and details
• Beaded motifs cut out and sewn onto a gown or veil

Cutting

• Always cut it flat on the table as a single layer: don't fold it and cut double.
• Lay it right side up, so you can see where the beading falls. Allow extra for matching.
• Use an old pair of scissors for cutting through beads: they blunt good blades.
• Keep any beads that come loose as you cut, to sew back on later.

Sewing

• The couture way: underline with silk organza. Cut each piece again in organza, lay it on the wrong side of the tulle and hand tack around the edges, then sew the two as one. The organza carries the weight of the embellishment and stops the tulle stretching.
• Clear the seam allowances. Snip the threads holding the beads inside the seam allowance, slide them off and knot the loose thread ends so the rest stay put. Keep them to sew back on.
• Use a zipper foot so you can stitch close to the embellishment, and sew slowly.
• Press the seam allowances open with your fingers and catch them to the organza with a few hand stitches, so they lie flat.
• Once the seams are sewn, stitch the beads back over them by hand, so the design looks unbroken.
• Put the zip in by hand, and line the garment so nothing scratches the skin.

What to put under it

Embellished tulle is usually worn over another layer. Silk crepe satin or duchess satin make a beautiful base for a gown, and a soft tulle in a skin tone gives a barely-there look for sleeves and illusion backs.

Edges

Many of our embellished tulles have a finished border you can use as the hem. Otherwise, trim close to the outline of a motif. Tulle doesn't fray, so you can leave the edge as it is, or face it with a narrow strip of tulle or silk organza for a cleaner finish.

Pressing

Press face down on a thick, clean towel, on a low setting, through a pressing cloth, so the embellishment sinks in rather than flattens. Test on a scrap first.

Questions