(Almost) No-Sew Princess Tulle Skirt Tutorial

As promised, here's the tutorial on the tulle skirt I made for Brittany's orchard shoot. I spent about $20.

I found the tulle online. The waistband I used was from a local fabric store, and is actually two crocheted headbands (like you'd use for babies) cut and hand-stitched together to form one long strip.

The tulle I cut about 7-8 feet long (it depends on how long you want it, really. But you'll fold it in half so keep in mind the actual length will be half of what you cut) and roughly 6 inches wide. I recommend cutting it about 6 inches longer than you think you're going to need. Tulle clings to itself and if you're going to be outside or walking around with it, it will shorten itself a bit.

I attached the tulle strips to the waistband by folding the tulle strip in half (the long way), looping the halfway mark through the waistband, and pulling the ends through the loop, and pulling tight. But not too tight... it's just a skirt, after all. ;)

I attached the tulle in random places, somewhat evenly spaced out, and finished the very top with random shorter bits of tulle.

The top strips ranged from 10 inches to two feet and hid the waistband really well.

  You could add a ribbon "belt" around the top if you wanted, but I didn't. Lastly, finish the skirt by sewing hooks on one side so the skirt is adjustable for whoever wears it.

In all, It took me about 4 hours to do. And I used about 30 yards of tulle. I wanted it big and poofy (and since it's ivory colored I wanted to be able to hide the legs underneath) but you can add more or less as you like. I hope this helps!

The skirt in action:

Dreaming on the fly.

I know myself to dream on the fly. Last year around the first of May I imagined a beautiful orchard shoot with a big dress and one of my gorgeous friends as a model. To my dismay, when I called the orchard owner to ask if I could take pictures there, he replied I could... but I missed the blossoms by about two weeks.

48 weeks went by and I called him again. He again agreed and this time the peach and apple trees were in full bloom. It was like imagination ecstasy. I quickly recruited a friend, ordered a beautiful golden corset, and put together a huge tulle skirt.

But.

Unbeknownst to me, the corset was coming from China. To my knowledge it's still not stateside. I wasn't going to let it deter me. This shoot was not going to not happen this year. So I spent an entire day visiting every lingerie and thrift store in my area and I found a whole pile of nothing. My only option was my friend's corset that she forgot she even had. It wasn't the golden satiny goodness of the Chinese corset. It was better. It was soft pink and lacey. Oh, how I love lace. I plan on posting a tutorial of how I made the skirt.

Brittany was such a trooper. It was 40 degrees and 15-20 mph winds. Here are the fruits of our labor.

  

Grow where you're planted.

I'm a huge believer in fate/destiny/no coincidences/signs. So when I got this little gem in my inbox:

I found it very fitting that the very next day I got to see this page:

Notice the big, beautiful "PAID"? Best thing birthday money ever bought. 

I used to be a REALTOR, once upon a time ago. Needless to say I never went very far with it. I sold two houses, both to people I already knew. I put as much, if not more, money into it than I got out of it. I met a lot of successful people (and many people who were struggling... like me). But really, I attribute most of my shortcomings to the fact that I don't play golf. 

But not all was lost. I learned very valuable lessons from talking to people on the phone, how to wiz through contracts, lots of legal terms, great investment ideas, the beauty of tax write-offs, the value of being nice to people, how to put up with people you despise, and most important of all: that I was in the wrong damn profession. My first clue should've been that I spent more time and effort into designing my beautiful business cards than I ever did learning about sales.

I could go on and on about every soul-crushing moment I endured while putting on my slacks, fake smile, and dancing around all the other people who live to put on slacks, a fake smile, and do the dance. But maybe I'll save the soul-crushingness for when I write about being a waitress. In truth, I hadn't been an actively licensed agent for over a year and had mostly forgot all about it until I received the aforementioned email. The very next day I ordered Sue Bryce's 28 Day Workshop and I felt a subtle, yet profound, turning page in my life. Life has led me here and now I will "blossom where I am planted," as my REALTOR buddy Greg would say.