How to Make a Birdcage Veil

DIY.

I recently utilized my craftiness to help a friend make a birdcage veil. I have to admit that I believed I could pull it off, but I was really concerned about making it look just right...I didn't want to mess up her wedding day look with my lack of skill. Luckily, I was able to pull it off and I thought I'd share with you how I did it and offer some pointers along the way.

What you need:
1 yd of 18" wide ivory/white Russian netting
1/4 yd each of ivory/white organza and organdy
1/2 yd of ivory/white tulle
Thread and needle
fabric glue
hair comb/clip
felt (optional)
white feathers (optional)

1. Take the 18" x 18" piece of Russian netting and trim according to the chart below. If you want the veil to taper more, start cutting closer to the halfway point of the sides. 2. Starting on the end opposite of where you trimmed, sew a running stitch along the entire side being sure to stitch through the little squares at each netting intersect.


3. Pull the thread taught so that you end up with a gathered end like this. Knot the end of the thread. Arrange the pleats as you like and sew the entire edge to a hair comb.

Now we move on to the flower. I used the Martha Stewart tutorial from her Summer '09 Wedding Magazine....with a twist. Here's how it goes.

1. Cut the following template from Martha Stewart Weddings. Using this template cut out the pattern in organdy, organza, and tulle. I used 4 each of organdy & organza, with 8 tulle.

2. Overlap the different layers alternating fabrics, staggering the layers so the petals don't perfectly line up on each layer. Now run a couple of stitches in the center to keep these all in place.

3. Fold the stack in half.

4. Fold this portion in half again, and stitch along the 2 edges that meet. You only need to sew about halfway up that edge.

5. Now you can move the petals around a bit to open the "flower" and form it how you would like.

6. Cut 2 small rounds of felt or left over organdy. On one of the cirles arrange the loose feathers so that they evenly extend outwards. Liberally apply fabric glue and apply the second fabric round. Allow to dry completely.

7. Now adhere the fabric flower to the feather base. Apply a small amount of the fabric glue to the center of the feather base. Position the flower on the base. Using just very outer petals of the flower add 4 - 6 stitches around the egde of the circluar base to further secure the flower and feathers together. Allow glue to dry.

8. Stitch the flower and feather to the edge of the comb above the Russian netting. Ta da! You have a birdcage veil.

A couple of things to note.

* I made the length of the veil fairly long. You can certainly trim it to be quite a bit smaller.

* If you would like to secure the tapered side with a comb, you follow the same steps as you would for the other side. The reason why I opted not to do so, was so that the bride could keep the veil on all night and simply flip the netting to the back out of her face.

* Organdy and organza are fairly expensive, which is why I used more of the tulle to create a full flower while lessening the expense.

* Total Cost for this veil was $4o (and that's with crazy NYC fabric store prices!)