Wednesday 16 March 2016

Tulle skirts: a tulle-torial!

Here's Emily making a pink tulle skirt with little May, Annie and Teresa

Making a tulle skirt couldn't be simpler! For this project we used the Tulle Circle Skirt DIY instructions found on A Beautiful Mess blog post - it has very clear pictures, which is a must for any good tutorial! We used So Fine #50 for stitching the skirts with Bottom Line pre-wounds in the bobbin. While making the skirts was fairly easy, I did find that it got even easier when I kept the following in mind:

  • When cutting out the tulle, make sure you're using your sharpest scissors! You want the lines to be clean and smooth, not jagged.
  • When you cut out your elastic, always make it an inch shorter than the waist size you want. The elastic stretches, and the tulle doesn't, so if you need to slip the skirt over your hips to your waist, make sure there's some give!
  • Before sewing the elastic onto the layers of tulle, I found it helpful to actually sew the layers together, rather than just pinning them. This way, you know that all the layers are together, and you won't have to unpick if you accidentally miss a layer while sewing the elastic on. 
  • Really pull the elastic taut while you are stitching the tulle to it! 
  • SoFine! #50 with Bottom Line in the bobbin is the perfect combination for clothing projects! 

Little May was so curious! She loved watching the sewing machine!
We used a serger, and the new Superior Threads line Sergin' General, to make the linings for the tulle skirts.

The Sergin' General blended beautifully and  gave a professional finish to the skirts.

Sergin' General is a Poly-wrapped poly core thread  specifically designed for Serging or overlocking. It's the cleanest serger/overlocker thread available with excellent strength and elongation for smooth stitches with less puckering. Sergin' General is available in 50 solid colours specifically chosen for their blending tones so you can easily find a perfect match. It's wound on convenient, 3,000 yd. cones and will fit on your serger/overlocker comfortably. 

Sergin' General is now available here in the UK from Machine Quilter. Use the American site as a shop window and email Martha with your order. 

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