Guest blogger – Amelia
Hi! I am Amelia from @SewAmelia and I am so thrilled to be Felicity Fabric’s September blogger. When I was browsing through the Felicity Fabrics website, looking at all the beautiful fabrics and thinking about what to make for my blog project, I kept coming back to this gorgeous tulle fabric. It isn’t something I had ever sewn with before, but inspiration struck, and I just couldn’t get the idea out of my head. So here it is – my fabulous, floaty and fun tulle skirt!
There are several patterns out there for tulle skirts, including many self-drafted ones, but as this was my first time working with tulle, I wanted to work with a pattern. I also prefer a fitted waistband, so I was looking for a pattern that didn’t rely on elastic at the waist. In the end, I settled on Rebecca Page’s Tulle Skirt pattern. This is a beautiful pattern, which has a fitted waistband and an invisible zip. It is a midi skirt and can be made with varying layers of tulle depending on how full you want the skirt to be. I decided to make the slightly less full skirt as I did not want to be drowning in tulle!
When the tulle arrived, I was so excited to get started with the project. It is in the most beautiful soft blue-grey colour, and I knew it would work so well as a skirt in both the Summer and Autumn months. To give the fabric added depth and swish, I used a deep blue taffeta for the lining and waistband.
In terms of sizing, the most important measurement when making this skirt is the waist measurement. I have a 30-inch waist, which put me exactly in a size medium. There is very minimal ease in the finished garment measurements, so do check these before sewing, but as I like a close fit at the waist I was really pleased with the fit of the finished skirt.
The pattern is aimed at beginner sewists and was a very straightforward sew. There are full, very detailed, illustrated instructions for each step, but there was also an option to use a shorter, written overview of all the steps for more advanced sewists, which was great! The tulle was great to work with. I had to do a little playing around with stitch length and tension on my machine, but after that it was plain sailing!
The only thing I was a little worried about, was inserting the invisible zip through all those layers of tulle. However, the instructions were fantastic, and the tulle was so easy to work with that it went in really smoothly. I was so excited when it was done, and the back waist seam lined up so beautifully!
This was such a fun sew. I have wanted to make a tulle skirt for ages but have been scared of working with this new-to-me fabric. I am so glad I gave it a go as this is such a fun skirt to wear. I have loved wearing it over the summer and am also really excited about styling it and wearing it throughout the autumn too.
*In the photos I have styled the skirt with the ‘Bathurst Top’ by Stitch Witch Patterns, as well as a RTW white top and cardigan.
