When working with tulle, I usually hand baste first before I even think about doing any type of machine sewing. Why? Tulle is a slippery fabric and while I know you can use tissue paper to help with this, I still prefer hand sewing even if that means it takes more time. I love hand sewing, for me it’s therapeutic. I don’t need electricity to create something beautiful. Just the basic tools and time of course.
How much hand basting are we talking about? It was a little over 50 yards of tulle, I hand sew fairly quickly, but that still was a lot. This petticoat has three layers of tulle, each layer was secured to the one above with the hand basted stitches. Afterwards, I went back and sewed those stitches with one of my sewing machines. In the above photo, I was using my Brother PC420 Project Runway.
My daughter loves watching the progression of her outfit. Since tulle can be slippery, I decided it might be best to have her working with fabric that isn’t as challenging. She readily agreed.
Yesterday evening, I added the embroidery. You can see the same picture with a different background here. The detail shows up much better at the one I’ve linked.
Here’s a close up of how it appears near the top of the petticoat. My daughter chose a simple floral design from Urban Threads. I believe I’ll finish the petticoat today. Later today, I’ll work on the dress, but for now I do believe I’ll take a tiny break. The elastic needs to be added to the waist and the actual petticoat needs a hem. For the tulle, I believe I’ll add a rolled hem, which means I’ll have to use my serger machine.
Would I have done anything differently?
In hindsight, I would have used chiffon for the actual petticoat, but that might not have been a great idea since I added the machine embroidered flowers? Well, it would have been doable, but I definitely would have needed a thicker stabilizer. I will be making other petticoats, the next one will most likely be for myself.