Pink Tulle Dress

I finished my pink tulle dress today. I feel like I should be more excited and proud. I ended with a hem that folded over and frankly, things I had to just accept as is, knowing it wasn’t worth trying to unpick + fix or cater to my perfectionism. 

I recently watched a process and foundations course - and in it, it talked about quality, efficiency, and budget. You can’t have all three. Such as, you can’t have quality, if you’re striving for efficiency and budget. 

In my head, I thought - this dress can’t be perfect. 

I know I can’t be perfect. I know I can’t do a perfect job. 

So where is the line between creating something with quality, care, efficiency, technique, and skill? 

While also accepting it cannot be perfect? 

My dress fell somewhere on that line: its tucked, uneven hem, is hidden beneath the flouncy tulle. Its gorgeous layers and gathers come up to a fitted waist and the bodice sculpts the bust beautifully. And the fluffy, ruffly straps...are so dang fun and girly. 

I started by making the tulle skirt. I decided to make this a separate piece, in hopes it could be worn without the dress. I used a soft deep pink tulle, which gathered into two layers. The dress had two skirts stacked onto each other, with the bottom layer longer, creating a three tiered skirt illusion. 

When building the body, I stacked the tulle on top of the pink satin. This allowed the coloring to dull a bit, but also gave a great texture. I overlocked all the tulle to the satin to ensure it would stay in place. I left the dress skirt without tulle, given the separate skirt would go over it. 

The bodice was made of various pieces, creating a structured bust and waist. The bust had built-in padding. The straps were made out of satin, with gathered tulle sewn on top, creating a fluffy ruffled sleeve. I kept them at the length that allowed me to wear the sleeves over, or off the shoulder. 

Honestly, the little girl in me is shocked; one--that my chest and shoulders would show so much, and two--the fact I’ve decided to wear a gorgeous dress such as this one. It’s an achy feeling of deep love and desire for something you never thought you could ever wear.

I do love it. Despite the imperfection. Even more so because I never believed I would ever wear something like this. I freaking love it. And I’m very proud.