Easter Tutu and Craft Day!!

Today has been a very busy day for my little Izzy and I.   Yesterday, I decided that I was going to make Isabella an Easter dress (instead of buying a custom ordered dress like I usually do). So off to the craft store we went.  At the craft store I was having a very hard time figuring out if I should by the pre-cut spools of tulle or go by the yard...since I had absolutely no idea how much tulle I would need I decided to go with the spool because it seemed like a safer choice.  I ended up getting 15 yards of purple tulle because they didn't have it in the spools, needless to say, I had A LOT of left over purple tulle, lol.  I also got a crotchet top for the main part of the dress, thankfully the woman at Joanne's knew what the heck I was talking about because if I couldn't find that thing the entire project would be done and I would have one bummed little girl on my hands.

Here are all the goodies I got for the Easter dress, never mind the purse, I was so excited to get started I took a picture right away!

After I made lunch and made sure that Isabella was playing well on her own, I got started on this massive project.  I didn't realize how big of an undertaking this thing was going to be until I got started.  After about two hours I had ALMOST finished the first row of tulle! I was exhausted and had a major hand cramp.  I decided to take a break and come back to it later in the evening. 

The first row of tulle on the dress

 Lets fast forward to ten o'clock at night and there I am busting my but trying to finish the second and third layers of the dress (taking a break earlier in the day was starting to look like a bad idea).  Finally around midnight I had the three layers of tulle on.  I decided to wait until the morning to try the dress on Isabella so I could see if I needed more tulle or not. So the next morning I put the dress on Isabella and it was SO POOFY! I was a little nervous that it was too much tulle, but she absolutely loved it! I wanted to see if I could tame the hugeness of the dress so I decided to try a little trick I had learned along the way with tulle.  I hung the dress in Isabella's bathroom and turned the shower on with scalding hot water and shut the door.  After about ten minutes I went in and turned off the water and shut the door again.  About five minutes later I went in and the steam had relaxed the tulle a lot and it was not so poofy. Phew! 

All that tulle!!

Now it was time for accessories!  I put some sequin trim on the bottom of the crotchet top, where the tulle is attached to cover up the seem.  I then added some purple satin ribbon for straps so that the dress will stay up but the straps are really soft so they shouldn't chafe her neck when she wears it.  I also added a pretty blue flower for the final accessory.  I was trying to decide if I wanted to put the flower on the sequin trim or near the top by the ribbon.  In the end I decided to put it near the top to cover where the ribbon is attached to the crotchet top and to make sure that she was completely covered in the top.  Finally I put it on her for the last time, and she loved it! What also surprised me was that daddy also loved it and thought that it was really cute!

She LOVES her Easter dress! Now she can't wait for Easter to come so she can wear her pretty dress. 

A close up of the sequins and other accessories. She says that the flower is her favorite.

After two days and about six hours of work I think the dress is done.  I am playing with the idea of putting some glitter glue on the tulle to make it extra sparkly, but I would have to find a spray on type and I don't know if they make those. I'm also going to make a bow or set of bows with some of the left over tulle so she will have a matching set.  I'm so excited and proud about my first attempt at these dresses, I am already thinking of new styles and designs, maybe I might even start selling them!?!?!