Fabric 101: Tulle
Tulle is a type of fabric that has a very open weave, looking almost like a net. It’s incredibly lightweight, sheer, and full-bodied. Tulle is used for making tutus, petticoats, skirt overlays, and other novelty items such as veils, fashion accessories, and costumes. Higher-end tulle is also used in wedding dresses and elegant evening wear.
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| Fabric | Tulle |
| Texture? | Looks like a small net |
| Stretch? | Some tulle has some stretch to it, especially if it’s made from nylon |
| Heavy or light? | lightweight |
| Stiff or flowy drape? | Stiff drape |
| Nap? | No nap |
| Typical fiber content? | Usually polyester or nylon. Traditionally made from silk |
| Opaque or sheer? | Sheer fabric |
| Shiny? | Not shiny |
| Fraying? | Does not fray |
| Pilling? | Does not pill |
| What to make? | Tulle is most often used for petticoats, underskirts, and overskirts. It’s also used for veils, accessories, costumes, and tutus |
| What needle to use? | A universal or microtex needle |
What kind of fabric is tulle?
Tulle is a type of netting fabric. The weave has small, but clearly visible gaps in it, making it look like mesh or a small net. Like other types of netting, tulle does not fray.
Because of the holes in the material, tulle is a sheer fabric and is generally not used as the main material for a garment. Instead, it’s used as an underlayer, an overlayer, or a decorative element.
While softer than many other types of netting, tulle is a stiff fabric overall. It is used for dancewear, such as tutus, as well as overlay layers on skirts and bodices. Tulle also bunches up to become an almost fluffy fabric. It’s common to gather tulle into layers to create a full-bodied petticoat or decorative skirt.
What can you make with tulle fabric?
I use tulle mostly for petticoats and underlayers for skirts. The full-bodied quality makes it perfect for giving skirts and dresses a little bit of a fluffy, poofy look. You can also use it under puff sleeves to make them bigger and gravity-defying.
Tulle can be used as a skirt overlay layer, or even as a sheer bodice overlay. It is also frequently used for wedding veils and decorative elements on hats and handbags. Starched tulle is used to get that stiff tutu look. You’ll also find tulle frequently used in costumes, especially kids’ costumes.
Properties of tulle fabric
- Texture: Most types of tulle nowadays aren’t pleasant to touch. The netting weave and typical synthetic fiber content (nylon or polyester) tend to make the fabric irritating and itchy against the skin. Traditional tulle that was made from silk is much softer to the touch. However, it’s also not very common anymore.
- Stretch: Some tulle has a very small amount of stretch. Tulle made from nylon, especially, will warp a little bit.
- Weight: Tulle is an extremely lightweight fabric. I would call it a featherweight. You can use several yards of the material on a skirt, and you will barely feel the weight of it. This is one of the properties that makes it so useful as a petticoat or underskirt since you can use so much of it without adding any weight to your clothes.
- Drape: Tulle has a stiff drape as well. The combination of the stiff drape and lightweight tulle gives it almost gravity-defying properties. The material will hold its shape and remain floofy and full-bodied almost indefinitely.
- Fiber composition: Modern tulle is almost always made from polyester or nylon. Typically nylon tulle will be slightly higher quality than the polyester tulle, but I find that both types have a fairly itchy texture. It’s also possible to find silk tulle, especially at more high-end shops.
- Fraying: Tulle fabric does not fray at all. You can leave the edges completely raw if you want and they will not unravel over time.
- Durability: The netted weave of tulle makes it susceptible to snagging. The fibers will be pulled and it can result in rips in the fabric.
- Wrinkling: Tulle is a wrinkle-resistant fabric. Because of the way the netting has so many gaps in the weave, there is little opportunity for the fibers to crease significantly.
How to sew with tulle fabric
Tulle fabric is a little tricky to sew with. The open weave and lightweight airy properties make it a bit of a headache to pin together correctly.
In my opinion, cutting tulle is the most difficult part. The material moves around so much that it’s difficult to get a straight edge when cutting your pattern pieces. The slight stretch of many tulle varieties does not make the process any easier.
- I highly recommend investing in a rotary cutter and a large cutting mat to make it easier to work with tulle.
- Most of the time, you can sew tulle with a standard, universal needle. If you’re still running into problems with the needle, you can switch to an extra sharp microtex needle.
- With tulle, it’s best to use either a zig-zag stitch or a long straight stitch. Using a stitch that’s too short can mean that the needle does not make it past the holes in the material. It can end up tangling the thread or causing stitch issues.
- You also might need to lower the thread tension on the sewing machine since the tulle fabric will give zero resistance to the needle.
