Bee Veil Tutorial

I'm rounding up tools of the trade, starting with the equipment I need that I'll wear. The most important seems to be the veil. Even if I go with the simple Alexander style that doesn't require the purchase of a separate hat, the price is around $17 (not including shipping). So what's a beehaver with no budget to do? DIY, of course. And while I was at it, I took pictures to share with you here.

Materials Used:
- straw hat
- 2 yards black tulle
- small strip of elastic; about 20" (optional)
- toggle (optional)
- cording; about 6' (optional)

I kept my fabric doubled lengthwise, just like it comes off the bolt. I can still see through it fine and I'm hoping this will keep it a little stiffer so it doesn't come into contact with my neck when the wind blows.

The brim of my hat is 50" around. So the tulle needs to match that measurement on your hat plus a couple inches for the seam and a little ease. I'm cutting mine at 52":

Your tulle should look like this now:

The back of the veil needs to be shorter than the front. I've decided on 15" in the back but I'll be folding up the bottom to make a casing so I'll need 17" at the back.

Fold tulle in half lengthwise. Measuring down from the top, along the raw edge, mark at 17" (you can see I just stuck a pin at that measurement). Now measure along the bottom, from the fold you just made, and make a mark at 5". Make a line from mark to mark (or just lay a yard stick down) and cut along the line:

Your tulle should look like this now:

 You're done cutting! At this point you could sew the ends together at the back to make a big loop and just glue or hand-sew the top of the tulle to the hat where the crown and the brim meet. Make little tucks in the fabric as you go to gather the excess and make sure that any stitches you make are close enough together that a bee can't slip through. Now the bottom tucks into your collar and that's it!

I wanted to be able to wear my hat without the veil, so mine is a little more customized. Here are the extra steps:

I used a sewing machine but you could also do these steps by hand using a running stitch.

For an elastic casing to slip over the crown of the hat:

Along the top edge, sew a line of stitches 1/2" from the edge:

For a casing to run a cord around the bottom edge:

Fold bottom edge up 3/4" and again 3/4". Sew close to the top:

Wrap the elastic around the headband of your hat and snug it up to the fit you'd like; cut the excess. Use a safety pin to thread the elastic through the top casing:

 Pin the ends of the elastic to keep them together:

Now use another safety pin to thread the cording through the bottom casing. Keep the tulle smooth, do not allow it to gather. Stop midway and make a little snip in the casing for a loop of cording to poke through. I also threaded the cording through this little scrap of leather with holes punched in it (I was worried the toggle might chew up the flimsy tulle):

 Now align the edges of the back (17" short edge) and sew 1/2" from the edge. Make sure the ends of the elastic and the cording are sticking out so that you catch them in the seam as you sew:

Trim the ends of the cording. Now all that's left is to thread the loop of cording you left sticking out of the snip through the toggle:

Now slip the elastic over you hat and try it on. The cording gathers up the bottom of your veil using the toggle so it tucks up nicely under the collar of your shirt.

So how much do you save by making this yourself?

Standard price for the Alexander-style hat: $17.95
Let's not forget shipping and handling. Cost of of shipping varies ($7.15-$14.96). Assuming you shop at the company with the most reasonable shipping cost, you would pay $25.10!

I paid $7.99 for the hat and $2.53 for two yards of tulle. The toggle I ripped off an old coat and the elastic and cording I had laying around (you could even use shoe laces for cording). For a grand total of $10.52.

Less than half of the price. Not too shabby.

I'll let you know how it works!

Update: I've used it now for my hive cutout and the first hive inspection and it works awesome.
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