Tulle Academy

So for those who don't know my newest hobby has become creating (or trying to) tutu's. Aside from dance costumes I never owned a tutu so when I started this new endeavor I had to become acquainted with all that was tulle.

I searched online for demos, instructions, videos, and ideas that I could use to create these poofy accessories, and almost every tutorial I found had the same information. {Side note} My tutorial will be up soon... Everyone said either one of the following:
-tulle should cost less than a dollar a yard
or
-you can buy rolls of 6" tulle at your local fabric store.

In my conclusion these statements are both 90% false (at least in the Philadelphia area at your chain crafts/fabric stores).

I searched our local giant fabric store for tulle and found a variety of options, large holes, small holes, soft, rough, glitter, shimmer, matte, and "illusion" which has crystals glued on. But the cheapest I could find was $1.49 a yard. I know the difference is only $0.50 BUT when you need 10-20 yards per tutu that is $5-$10 that everyone else seems to not have to spend.

The rolls of tulle which are 6" by 25 yards are just impossible to find. I asked two associates at different stores if they carried the rolls and I got glassy eyed confused looks. Even at this large chain's website you can only find 3 or 4 color choices. People online seem to have a rainbow of choice for a mere dollars a roll.

I did find several websites that sell the rolls, but I had already purchased a large amount of tulle and needed to make a sale before i went and bought anything else. Papermart $1.84 a roll, BBCrafts $1.85 a roll (with bulk buy options), smartyhadaparty $1.99 with a small selection of colors.

So i thought I was doomed to settle for the dreaded online order and wait, BUT today I was searching around a local chain craft store (note craft not fabric) and I found in their wedding sections a large assortment of 6" rolls of tulle!!!! Now as happy as I was I couldn't help but be taken aback by the price, almost $4 a roll. This couldn't be my one stop shop for all things tulle, but at least I knew that there was someplace in the county I could find tulle without paying for shipping and waiting 7-10 business days

Also, I happened to check our local Wal-mart in their fabric department and did find a few colors of tulle for $0.97. Granted the colors were ivory, gold, brown, and white but it does exist, tulle for less than a dollar a yard!

So I hope you can look past all my ranting, and use this information to your advantage when you go out looking for tulle, as many of you will I'm sure :-P
-HOS