HTV on Tulle? Yes you can! Here’s how.

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Halloween is quickly approaching. Working with children on a regular basis, I’m always looking for costume ideas every year. I believe that a tutu turns anything into a costume. What you may or may not know, however, is that you can apply HTV on tulle fabric.

I wanted to make a Wonder Woman costume with HTV on tulle. So I made a royal blue tutu and wanted to put white stars on it. Michaels has tutu kits which make it easy to make.

Using Cricut’s Design Space software, I just used the shapes tool to create a star and sized it accordingly. I cut out 10 stars for my tutu.

All the usual HTV application procedures apply. Be sure to check out my post on All About HTV.

Step by Step Process for Applying HTV on Tulle

1. Don’t forget to mirror your image – although for my stars I didn’t have to mirror because the design didn’t require it to. However, your design may require mirroring the image.
2. Any HTV will do – I used Siser Easy Weed in white, and my usual cut setting is Iron On + on my Cricut Explore Air 2.
3. Weed the image(s) as usual so that you are left with the image on the sticky carrier sheet.
4. Set your heat press to a low temperature – I did it at 300 degrees (I typically  heat press shirts at 350 degrees, so this is lower). Tulle is delicate and thin – I didn’t want to run the risk of burning it or melting it.
5. Spread out the tulle so that it’s flat and apply the HTV. Put a teflon sheet on top – this protects both the delicate tulle as well as evenly distribute the heat. Press for 10 seconds. Similar to applying HTV on shirts, you know it’s done when you can see a bit of the impression of the fabric (in this case, tulle), on the HTV. If you feel that the 10 seconds is not enough, press again for another 5-10 seconds. Better to do several short presses, than one long press so that you can check on the progress.

It’s quite easy to do – just remember the main points: low heat and not too long. You can easily make a shirt using HTV to go with the costume too.

TUTU TIPS

1. The Michaels’ kits make it quite easy to make a tutu. The kit contains 50 pre-cut tulle strips. You still need to purchase something for the waistband. Any type of elastic will do, as will a belt or a scarf.  There are 2 types of elastic – crochet elastic seems to work well with tutus as it has built-in holes. Michael’s had crochet elastic, but fabric stores will also have it.
   
2. You don’t need to sew the tulle to the waistband – you simply weave it through the holes (if using crochet elastic) and then tie it to attach. There are several blogs and videos online that show how to do it.
3. The more tulle you use, the poufier it will be. The Michaels’ kits contain 50 tulle stripes. In my opinion, this was enough tulle. You could get a second kit and add to it, but keep in mind that the cost has now doubled.
4. You don’t have to use the Michaels’ kit – you can go to a fabric store and purchase tulle or even crinoline to make a tutu. For an adult size tutu, you will need 2 to 3 yards of tulle or crinoline. I priced it out and in our area, the cost savings was negligible (around $2 for the fabric). You also need to cut the strips yourself. For an extra $2, I think the Michaels’ kit is worth it.
5. Crinoline creates a stiffer and poufier tutu. It’s not the traditional fabric, but it works. I found that it really depends on the colour you are looking for. At the one fabric store, I was at, I was looking for royal blue – it was available in crinoline, but not tulle.

Want to make your own tutu? You can, by using crochet elastic and strips of tulle.

Want to remember how to put HTV on tulle? Be sure to save this to your favourite Pinterest board.