How to Make a Your Own Bridal Veil

Learn how to make a bridal veil with a comb

We had a great wedding. It was a low-key afternoon in Colorado with only our parents there. I found my dress secondhand. We did almost everything with a non-traditional approach. But since I wore a wedding dress, I also wanted to wear a veil.

I’m not particularly old-fashioned; I just liked the idea of a veil. However, I quickly realized that veils are expensive. I wanted to keep it simple…I didn’t want beading, sequins, lace, or multiple tiers. So, after being unable to find exactly what I wanted, I decided to make my own.

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What is the best fabric for a DIY veil?

Before we get into the tutorial, I want to talk about two major things that will influence how your veil looks: fabric and poof. I did a lot of research on veil fabrics before deciding to buy my fabric. I didn’t want the veil to be too stiff— I wanted it to be soft and flexible.

But I also knew I couldn’t afford silk tulle (Kate Middleton’s veil was silk tulle). During my research, I found this extremely helpful graphic from custom veil designer Veils by Roxanne. The fabric on the far left in the image, bridal illusion, is the most commonly used fabric for veils. It’s just tulle, and tulle is cheap. It is stiffer than most other veil fabrics, which you can see pretty clearly by comparing it to the other fabrics in the lineup.

You’ll notice that the veil fabric I wanted, silk tulle, is pretty much the exact opposite of the popular and affordable fabric I could easily purchase at my local fabric store. 🙁 But wait! What is this “English net” fabric? It looks a lot like silk tulle, so I did a little research.

If you want something that has a silk tulle look and feel without having a silk tulle price tag, English net is your answer. In fact, this is the exact fabric I ordered, and I was extremely pleased with it.

The second thing you need to consider is the poofy factor. Do you want a more voluminous veil that has more height near the crown of your head? If so, a stiffer fabric, like tulle, will be your best bet, but you also want to consider the width of your veil.

The wider the piece of fabric you have, the poofier the veil will be when it’s all bunched up and put on a comb. That said, whatever fabric you prefer, the instructions in this tutorial remain the same. So, if you’d like to make a simple bridal veil, read on!

Supplies & steps to make a bridal veil

• Fabric–for this tutorial, I’m using tulle. If you want to use the fabric I used for my actual veil, you can buy it here.
• Iron and ironing board/pad
• Sewing machine
• Needle, thread, & scissors
• Measuring tape and something to mark your fabric
• Comb (plastic, wire, they both work–it will be hidden in your hair)

Step 1: Iron and prep fabric

Gently iron out any kinks or folds in your fabric. Then, lay the fabric on  large, flat surface. I’ll be using a piece of fabric that’s 55″ wide and 30″ long, so the finished product will give you an idea of how the measurements I’m using look.

Step 2: Measure, mark, and cut

Using your measuring tape, mark where you’ll need to cut. Since I’m leaving the edges of the veil raw (i.e., I am not adding a ribbon trim or something similar), I cut very carefully. Using super sharp sewing scissors helps with this—or better yet, using a rotary cutter!

If you want to round the two corners on the bottom of your veil, it’s easy! Just grab something round to trace, which will ensure that each corner is evenly cut. I didn’t round my corners.

Step 3: Start sewing your DIY veil

It’s time to sew. Set your sewing machine on the longest stitch length and sew a straight line of stitches along the top (one of the width sides) of the veil. Make sure to leave a long tail from your bobbin thread. The tulle will probably gather just a bit as you’re sewing—that’s fine.

Step 4: Sew a second line below the first line

Flatten the fabric out, smoothing out any gathered areas that bunched up while you were sewing the first line. Then sew a second straight line of stitches about one-half inch below the first line of stitches. Leave a long tail from your bobbin thread here as well.

You now have two parallel lines of stitches. These are the basis of your entire DIY veil! Congratulations. That was the hardest part of this whole tutorial 🙂

Step 5: Pull the thread tails to gather the fabric

Now it’s time to gather the fabric to morph it from a piece of flat tulle into a veil. To do so, hold the veil and gently pull the bobbin thread tails for each straight line of stitches.

Your fabric will begin to gather. If you end up with a bottle neck of bunching fabric, you can help it along. When your fabric is gathered enough to be the same length as your comb, tie the threads at each end several times to ensure they stay put.

Don’t worry about adding glue or anything; you’ll further stabilize it with a comb. Trim the excess thread, as well as any excess tulle from the top.

Step 6: Attach the veil to a comb

The veil is done, but you need a way to attach it to your head. Grab your comb and set it so that it’s curving up. Then lay the gathered edge of the veil on the comb. Ensure the side of the veil that you’d like to be on top is facing UP. Little graphic explaining this below since it’s kinda hard to explain.

Use your needle and thread to sew the veil onto the comb by sewing stitches around each comb tooth. I think I did the entire length of the comb, and then I stitched back over everything for extra security. Tie knots in the threads on the end. You can also add a dab of glue for extra security.

Put it in your hair with the comb teeth facing down and with the comb curving toward your head. And that’s it! Wasn’t it easy? This is a simple DIY veil, but there are lots of ways you can customize yours.

You can use colored tulle instead of white/ivory; adhere rhinestones, ribbon, or decoration to the comb to cover up the stitches; or sew the veil onto another type of comb. Whatever you want. I loved keeping mine simple and easy 🙂

How do you hand sew a veil?

You can complete this tutorial without a sewing machine. Simply use a needle and thread and sew two straight lines of thread just as my tutorial outlines in steps 3 and 4. Since sewing by hand does take a bit longer, you can increase the size of each stitch, but I wouldn’t go above and 1/4 of an inch.

Once you sew the two lines, leave two “tails” of thread just as this tutorial shows. Then gently pull and gather the tulle along the threads to create your veil. Hand-sew the veil onto a comb.

Some more pics of my DIY veil…

I truly hope that this tutorial helps you…it was a very rewarding project! Here are a few more gratuitous wedding photos (by Michele Hart Photography) that show the veil in different states of battling the elements 🙂 (We eloped on New Year’s Eve in Colorado.)

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