Weddingbee boards

I coach figure skating and bead all my skaters dresses in swarovski... The best way to do a huge piece like a cathedral veil would be to use hotfix swarovski. They are little rhinestones with a special glue already applied on the back. You buy a tool called a hotfix applicator wand, and when you set the crystal in the tip of the wand, it heats it up and melts the glue so you can apply it to the fabric.

I would suggest practicing a few times on another fabric, it can be tricky at first to keep the wand at the right angle without tipping the crystal off it before you know here you want to place it. I buy all my crystals on eBay, they are by far cheaper than bead stores typically are. I usually pay about $12-$13 for one gross (144 pieces) of 16ss or 20ss AB hotfix clear crystals. To do a cathedral veil, depending on how heavy you want them, I would get about 7 or 8 gross. I would estimate and say it would take you about 20 hours to do. It doesn't require too much brain power once you get going, though, and I would often watch t.v. while I was beading dresses. 

 That said, you might want to go look at some in a bead store if you go that route, just to see the sizes/colors. I am using 16ss (that's the size) AB (the finish) clear crystals on my veil and just doing a scatter pattern throughout. Crystals with the AB finish are much more sparkly and reflect more light than the ones without it. 

Let me know if you have any other questions, or if this was confusing! Good luck ;) 

that was very well laid out Libralinds :)

Just make sure the wand wont melt/burn the tulle...