Sep 23, 2012

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How to Make a Net Veil (Birdcage Style)


Birdcage veils — sometimes called net or face veils — have not too long ago turn out to be far more well-liked, partially due to film and celebrity brides wearing them. Most recently, in 2007, Katherine Heigl wore one particular in her genuine-life wedding and Jessica Alba’s character wore a birdcage veil in the film Great Four two: Rise of the Silver Surfer. Whilst it really is feasible to purchase birdcage veils, brides on a spending budget may possibly favor to make their personal.

This veil is quite short — normally just long sufficient to frame the face but can also be eye-length — and typically worn alone, with no added tiers or a separate blusher. You could choose to attach a standard veil in the back, to a bun or mass of curls. The birdcage is produced of coarse-weave French or Russian-style netting rather than common fine-mesh veil fabrics. Historically, the veil was attached to a hat. The modern bride, even so, typically prefers to put on her birdcage veil without having a hat. Today, most brides attach this brief, circular veil directly to their hair with a pin or comb, so that it hangs down about the head. The front serves as a blusher more than her face.

Producing a Birdcage Veil

Due to the fact of the brief length and due to the fact netting is stiffer than tulle, producing the effect you want when producing a birdcage veil can be trickier than when producing a regular veil. For this reason, purchase additional netting and plan to make one or two trial runs ahead of the veil is ideal. Also note that the width of the netting will be the length of your veil (from the point where you attach it to your head to the where the veil falls in front of your face).

Supplies You Will Need to have:

– Up to 3 yards of Russian or French netting.&#13- Two or more hair clips (the sort used to secure hair extensions to brief hair are most stable).&#13- Sturdy thread the color of the netting (button thread performs well).&#13- Scissors

Step 1: Cut 36″ of 9″ French / Russian netting

You can make a comparatively complete birdcage veil, with many gathers, from a yard of netting. These directions are for making a fairly complete, gathered veil similar to Jessica Alba’s in Rise of the Silver Surfer. Cut the netting shorter for a veil that lays closer to your head, with fewer gathers. If in doubt, cut the piece long at very first. Then shorten it if you find that the veil is also total.

The brief, cut ends will be the sides of your veil and the lengthy, completed edges will be the front and back. These instructions clarify how to gather the sides and attach them to clips as properly as collect the back a lot more loosely than the sides.

Step two. Sew on two clips, 1 at each end of the extended (completed) edge of veiling.

The clips will go at the front corners of the veil, with the teeth facing the completed edge. The outdoors, short side of every single clip must be parallel to a raw, cut edge. Position them so that, when worn, the clips’ metal bars will face outward, but stay beneath the veiling. The clips should curve against your head when closed.

Step 3. Gather the cut sides of the veil and sew them to the clips.

Utilizing a slipknot, attach thread at the corner of a cut edge opposite a clip. Weave the thread in and out of the diamond patterns along the cut edge in between the attached end and the clip then thread it via the hole in the clip.

Pull the thread tight so the whole cut edge is gathered against the clip. Secure to the underside of the clip (the non-bar side, which will be against your head) so the thread will be hidden when you are wearing the veil. You may want to tidy up by clipping off the frayed pieces of netting. One particular entire side ought to now be gathered and sewn to a clip.


Repeat on the second side, gathering and sewing the raw edge against the clip.

Step four. Make the back gathers.

Attach doubled or heavy button thread to the inside edge of a clip. Weave the thread in and out in between the diamonds or holes in the netting. Do not secure the thread to the second clip however. The length of the thread determines how total the gathers and how closely the veil hugs your head. You will want to adjust the length of the thread so the veil looks best on you.

Step five. Experiment with diverse veil widths.

Hunting in a mirror, adjust the thread length between clips. When you are pleased with your veil’s width and fullness of the gathers, safe the thread by looping it through the inside holes of the second clip and tying it off. With eight” – 9″ netting, you will require to attach the veil near the top of your head for it to hit just beneath the nose. Attach it farther back for a shorter appear.


Leave time to practice attaching the veil precisely as you want it, and you will appear like a star on your wedding day!

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