For today’s post, I’m going to be highlighting three different types of tulle skirts, and going through exactly how to make them. Whether you need a princess costume, a classy dinner party, or something to built up your next gown, you’ll be an expert in tulle in no time at all!
1. Chic Tulle Circle Skirt
Not every tulle skirt needs to be giant. For those days where you want something light and airy, a simple tulle circle skirt may be just what you’re looking for.
For this one above, I kept the color scheme classic:
- 8 yards Black Nylon Tulle
- 2 yards Silver Polyester Satin
- 1 yard 2″ Black Elastic
Begin by folding your satin in half one way and again the opposite way. You should end up with a double folded corner, like you see above.
From that corner, you’ll need to measure out and mark your radius (or, your waist measurement divided by 6.28). For a 28″ waist, the radius above was about 4.5″ Cut a quarter circle from your folded corner.
I made this skirt about 22″ in length, so the next step was to measure 22″ from where I cut the radius, all around the quarter circle like the photo above.
I repeated this 4 more times with the tulle, although I added about 1″ to the tulle layers so they’d fall just slightly past the satin lining.
To finish up, I stitched on a black elastic band for the waist. Since it didn’t need to stretch too much to get over the hips, I stretched it while I sewed, rather than using a zig-zag stitch.
The lining was finished with a simple rolled hem and the skirt was ready to be paired with a crop top and some cute heels!
2. Knee-Length Petticoat
If you tackled the circle skirt and want to step your tulle game up to the next level, try a basic petticoat! It can be as full or as long as you need it to be. Plus, you can wear it under another skirt or dress to give it more volume, or try it on its own with an adorable top!
Things you’ll need:
- 25 yards Wide Nylon Tulle
- 1 yard 4″ Italian White Elastic Trim w/ Sheer Stripes
- 1/4 yard (Sienna) Solid Poly Satin
This skirt is surprisingly similar to the previous circle skirt – with just a few more steps, and a lot more tulle. Still, it begins much the same way: circles!
Cut 24 layers of tulle that same way it’s explained in version #1, but this time double your radius. If you’re using wide double-folded tulle like I did, you’ll get 2 layers every time you cut, you you’ll only need to cut 12 times!
Here’s where the process changes a bit – yokes.
This skirt will end up being super full, so pinning and sewing all that tulle to a single elastic waistband would be next to impossible. To remedy this, you can make a small yoke (this one was about 8″ tall), to attach most of your layers to. The top should be a little larger than your waist at the top, and slope down toward your hips with a seam on each side.
Take 16 of your layers, and pin them to the bottom (wider end) of your yoke, gathering your tulle evenly.
The other 8 layers will be attached to the top part of your yoke, hiding it. These 8 layers will be gathered much more than those underneath, since you doubled the radius and the yoke tapers up top.
Now you need the tier along the bottom! This part is super simple. Cut strips of your tulle measuring 8″ wide and sew them together until you have 2 that are each 16 yards long.
Gather those to layers and pin them to the 8 layers attached to the top of your skirt. This can then be sew with either right or wrong sides together. I chose to put the seam allowance on the outside for a little detail.
Attach your elastic the same way as you would for version #1, and you’re all set to party!
3. No-Sew Tutu
Nearly every girl dreams of bright pink, puffy skirts. So why not make one? This adorable no-sew tutu takes less than an hour and is easily customizable! Enjoy a full tutorial from Shavonne Cruz right here.
So tell us, which version will you be giving a try?
