Tulle

gardensqd 2/9/2013, 2:17 pm

I'm building PVC boxes (not hoops) to go over my 2 4x4 boxes. Is $49.99 for 50 yards of 108" a good price (w/shipping would be about $56)? Do you think this is way more than I'll ever need or just go for it since I will have extra?

Also, my mom had an idea to hot glue the tulle to the frame. Has anyone tried this? I'm thinking binder clips would be better so I can easily move the tulle if I need to.

quiltbea 2/9/2013, 2:33 pm

What is the tulle for?
If its to be used like a row cover to protect from insect damage, I suggest a light-weight Agribon or Remay. Cost for 50 feet by 108" is 23.95 at johnnyseeds.com and other suppliers and it doesn't get stuck on branches or sticks and what-nots and should be plenty for your SFG. It can be used year after year.

If you want a shadecloth, cheesecloth is much cheaper than tulle.

I would use clips to hold it. Easier to remove when checking for weeds, damage, maturity, etc.

**camprn** 2/9/2013, 2:49 pm

Tulle usually goes on sale around March in prep for Prom and wedding season. Sometimes it is 50% off at Joann Fabrics.

gardensqd 2/9/2013, 2:55 pm

quiltbea wrote:What is the tulle for?
If its to be used like a row cover to protect from insect damage, I suggest a light-weight Agribon or Remay. Cost for 50 feet by 108" is 23.95 at johnnyseeds.com and other suppliers and it doesn't get stuck on branches or sticks and what-nots and should be plenty for your SFG. It can be used year after year.

If you want a shadecloth, cheesecloth is much cheaper than tulle.

I would use clips to hold it. Easier to remove when checking for weeds, damage, maturity, etc.

I am making boxes that can be lifted off easily. I was using tulle to keep the bugs out and provide a protective barrier to keep other animals out. Do the row covers just go directly on to the plants or do they go over something to hold them up?

JackieB999 2/9/2013, 2:57 pm

I bought some reemay cloth and so far I love it. My seedlings were attracting some tiny flies and I was also worried about heavy rains. The cloth is working beautifully!

I'm using 5 gallon containers. Does anyone have an idea for a cage or support system for the cloth once the plants get taller?

**camprn** 2/9/2013, 3:02 pm

JackieB999 wrote:

I'm using 5 gallon containers. Does anyone have an idea for a cage or support system for the cloth once the plants get taller?

quiltbea 2/9/2013, 3:15 pm

gardensqd....>You can lay the row cover directly on the plants if you like. Its very light weight and won't hurt them. Or you can clip them to supports around the plants or across hoops. I use them both ways. I have wire clothes hangers spaced along my strawberry patch and lay the row cover over that.

Those tomato cages camprn posted are a good way to surround a plant when needed.

gardensqd 2/9/2013, 5:06 pm

quiltbea wrote:gardensqd....>You can lay the row cover directly on the plants if you like. Its very light weight and won't hurt them. Or you can clip them to supports around the plants or across hoops. I use them both ways. I have wire clothes hangers spaced along my strawberry patch and lay the row cover over that.

Those tomato cages camprn posted are a good way to surround a plant when needed.

Thanks for the info! So would I be able to drape this over my trellises as well?

quiltbea 2/9/2013, 10:10 pm

garden....Yes, you can drape it over anything you like if you have enuf of it. Be sure to clip the edges closed so the insects can't enter until its time for pollination (by insect). You can always pollinate by hand.
They also provide a few extra degrees of warmth in the spring which is always nice.

**AtlantaMarie** 11/9/2019, 8:39 pm

Bumping this.

JoAnn's will have tulle at 60% off on Thurs, Nov 14 - Sat, Nov 16 as a doorbuster. Your choice of shiny or matte.

**sanderson** 11/10/2019, 5:12 am

60% off!! May I recommend buy 108" width. It's okay to have the cover too big but it's a pain to try to sew 2 pieces together if a width is to small.

yolos 11/10/2019, 6:49 pm

sanderson wrote: 60% off!! May I recommend buy 108" width. It's okay to have the cover too big but it's a pain to try to sew 2 pieces together if a width is to small.

+1

On at least one occasion they did not have 108" width in the store so I ordered it online for the same sale price.

AM does this require a coupon and/or can it be purchased online for that discount.

I don't ever remember having the choice of Shiny or Matte. Which is better or lasts longer???????

**AtlantaMarie** 11/11/2019, 7:17 am

Yolos, apparently no coupon needed. Don't know about online or which would be better.... I'd personally go with matte....

markqz 11/11/2019, 4:00 pm

I'm looking at Jo Ann's online flyer (https://www.joann.com/weekly-ad). It says they will have a sale for tulle, 3 yds for $4 dollars (does not apply to 108"). 30% off Christmas tulle, whatever that is (it's hard to tulle).

Wow -- they even sell 3D printers.

**sanderson** 11/16/2019, 3:57 am

I recommend looking for Joann's coupon for 30-50% off a single item. Using 108" tulle is so worth it.

KiwiSFGnewbie 12/27/2022, 10:03 pm

Yesterday I made myself a tulle cover which is 4m (4.3 yards) on a side, and my sewing machine handled it like a lamb!

I tackled the project with fear and trembling, having read so many tips about how to sew tulle and concluding therefore that it was hard. But I needed a bigger floating row cover for the SFG bed, so I gave it a go on a little scrap of fabric and discovered it's really not difficult.

I'm only a moderate sewer, and my machine is very simple:

I didn't even bother getting a special needle for it, just used the one that I use for everything:

No skipped stitches, no tulle disappearing down into the feed dog area, no problems of any sort rock on

Here are my tips:

use a short stitch length; the photo above shows how I had the machine set up, the stitches are about 1/16"
put a little piece of Scotch tape on the underside of the presser foot, apparently this makes it slide better over the fabric; I had mine coming out just a little bit to each side of the foot, and roughly aligned with the front of the foot
pin the layers together using safety pins
don't start seams at the very edge; instead, lower the presser foot a few inches in from one edge, and sew all the way to the other edge, pull the fabric out leaving a nice long tail of thread, then put the fabric back in the machine facing in the opposite direction an inch or two past the beginning of the seam, sew over those stitches and continue towards and over the first edge (thus finishing the seam), also leave a nice long tail here
don't backstitch any seams
once all the seams are done, cut the tails and secure the seam ends with something like a little piece of cotton tape / bias binding / etc folded over both sides, you can zigzag this and backstitch it because the tulle is enclosed in the tape/whatever
when sewing the seams, bear in mind this stuff is very very easy to unwittingly stretch; just laying your hands on it like normal as you feed it into the machine risks stretching it, so keep reminding yourself "light hands, light hands" -- the lightest touch really is enough to control it

This is a photo of one of the seams, you can see the start of the double-sewn section, and the cotton tape finishing off the edge:

At first I went slowly, but I had more than 7 yards of seams to make, and ended up going fairly quickly, and the machine had no problems at all.

If you're wondering whether you can sew tulle, I say: get a scrap of it and try it out! You may find it's really not hard Smile

**sanderson** 12/28/2022, 4:13 am

Thank you for the tutorial! I never had the nerve to try sewing tulle.

Soose 12/28/2022, 9:30 am

gardensqd wrote:I'm building PVC boxes (not hoops) to go over my 2 4x4 boxes. Is $49.99 for 50 yards of 108" a good price (w/shipping would be about $56)? Do you think this is way more than I'll ever need or just go for it since I will have extra?

Ebay has lightweight tulle. We used it this year for insect barriers. Search bolt tulle.

I don't know if there's a heavyweight tulle. 54inch by 40 yards can be had for $8 or 9 US. Free shipping.

I bought bolts and bolts of it. ( Expecting possible supply chain probs so I stocked up. Knowing we need row covers, etc. The bolts don't take much room to store. )

I know some here like wider fabric, it looked to cost more. .

[E was didn't realize this was such an old thread. Really appreciate the sewing hints, ty ty! ]

KiwiSFGnewbie 12/28/2022, 3:39 pm

Soose wrote:Ebay has lightweight tulle. We used it this year for insect barriers. Search bolt tulle.

Oh wow, thank YOU for this tip! I never thought of trying to buy it online. Even with shipping it looks cheaper than what I paid (on post-Xmas sale) the other day!!!

Soose 12/28/2022, 5:58 pm

KiwiSFGnewbie wrote:
Soose wrote:Ebay has lightweight tulle. We used it this year for insect barriers. Search bolt tulle.
Oh wow, thank YOU for this tip! I never thought of trying to buy it online. Even with shipping it looks cheaper than what I paid (on post-Xmas sale) the other day!!!

I was told of tulle by gardening friends when I asked what I should get for row covers and such. But when I looked even online at fabric ".com" type clearance houses, the price was prohibitive. Then I saw a video on youtube from the "Robby and Gary Gardening Easy" channel. She's the one who clued me into buying the tulle by the bolt on ebay.

This is the video I must have watched where she tells how to use and buy it, including keeping critters out of containers, flying pests from laying eggs, etc.. (Here's the video that shows from my history -- I watched it.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgUANI2njng&t=905s

Here's the search of their channel and there are 6 or 7 videos with tulle in the title that come up:
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=robby+gardening+channel+tulle

KiwiSFGnewbie 12/28/2022, 7:07 pm

Wow, you are the queen of YouTube gardening clips! Smile

These are great.

**sanderson** 12/29/2022, 6:23 pm

I'll get to the videos when I have a free moment. Tulle 60389

Soose 12/29/2022, 7:16 pm

sanderson wrote:I'll get to the videos when I have a free moment.

#Sanderson, I like Robby's and Gary's channel, and the enthusiasm to make affordable container gardening available to anyone in many different ways, but it's not SFG. Not recommending their methods here.

I gave the links here because she gave a good source of affordable tulle and how to use it in various ways in the garden. ( I'd tried to find tulle but could not afford the other sources. )

KiwiSFGnewbie 12/30/2022, 4:17 pm

So my large sheet of tulle is now secured over the SFG bed, but as I was replacing it this morning I realised that whilst it's doing a great job of keeping flying insects out, it'll also be doing an equally good job of keeping any that enter while I'm working, in.

Are floating row covers a good idea against flying insects, or not? They seemed like such a great way of keeping my list of possible problems shorter, but now I'm starting to wonder.

Also, those of you who use them: what do you to keep insects from entering while you're working? Currently I take it off completely for my morning visit, but this is obviously not a good idea. Do you sort of 'crawl' under each edge? Or???

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Sewing tulle is easier than it seems! :-)

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