How to Make a Two Tier Veil-DIY First Communion Veil

 

First of all, decide the type of fabric, style, and length of the veil you are going to make. There is a wide variety of fabric you can choose, such as tulle (which is the most commonly used), English net, Swiss dot, poly chiffon, and organza. The length of the veil can range from cathedral, chapel, ankle, finger tip, elbow, to shoulder length.

This is a tutorial is about how to make a tulle fabric veil which is fastened on a comb. I  made this for my daughters first holy communion. This elbow length veil features two tiers, oval shape on the back, and half cut pearl embellishments along the edges.

You need the following supplies:


-Tulle fabric
-Hair comb (plastic or metal)
-Satin ribbon or a thin white fabric tape (bias tape would work)
-Glue/glue gun
-Thread, needle, safety pins, scissors, -Measuring tape
-Half cut pearls/beads/stones/crystals/laces
-Fabric glue

Tutorial:
Preparing the comb
Buy a plain plastic or metal comb. It's available in most of the craft/fabric stores (I got mine from Hobby Lobby- Bridal section). Next step is to loop the satin ribbon/thin white fabric/bias tape around the comb, staring from one end. The purpose of coiling the ribbon over the comb is just to make a surface to fasten the veil onto the top of the comb either by hand sewing or gluing. 

A) Apply a generous amount of glue (a glue gun would be perfect) onto bottom side of the comb. Press down one end of the satin ribbon on glue. Hold it there until the ribbon stays there. B) Then, start looping the ribbon around the teeth of the comb,until the ribbon reach the other end of the comb, apply glue along the bottom side of the comb, in each loop. C) Finally, glue the end of the ribbon on bottom side of the comb.

Preparing veil
For this veil, the top tier measures 23" and bottom tier measures 28". So, you need appox. 51" long tulle (23"+ 28"= 51", ie. length of top+ bottom tier). Lay out tulle fabric flat and cut the fabric according to your length measurements.

1. Fold tulle in half, lengthwise.

 
2.  Then make one more fold and round off the corner. Make sure to trim it nice and smooth. You may trim the edge which is close to first fold, if you need to reduce the width of the veil. Or, leave it as such for a thicker and fuller veil.

3. Next process is to gather the tulle. For that, unfold tulle and using safety pins, pin along a straight line approx. 23" from one edge of the tulle so that the distance from the straight line to other edge is 28".

4) Make small pleats with your hands along the straight line marked using safety pins. Get a needle and thread, make a knot at the end of the thread and hand sew the pleats together. Make sure the combined width of all the pleats is same as the width of the comb.

5) Place the pleated veil on a table.  Get the comb that has been prepared above. Place the comb with its top side facing up. Slide in the comb beneath the pleated veil and be sure to orient the teeth along the side of the bottom tier (side with 28"). Hand sew/glue the veil on the top of the comb.

6)  Once the veil has sewed onto the comb, lay the top tier over the bottom tier. So the stitching will be hidden in between top and bottom tier. To wear the veil, point the comb downward with the veil coming over the top. I also glued a strip of half cut pearls on the top of the comb.

 

Embellishing

(Embellishment idea is inspired from Rebecca Walker designs)
For embellishing along the edges of top and bottom tiers, half cut pearls (got it from Hobby Lobby- craft section) are used. Instead, you can also use stone/ beads in different patterns.
Position the half cut pearls, with 1/3 of each pearl is sticking out from the edge of the tulle. Glue the half cut pearls, one inch apart, back-to-back on both sides of the veil, and allow around 30 min to dry.