Twisted Vixen Elegance: STRIPES! TULLE! PINK! OH MY!!!

SCENARIO: My birthday is coming up in 3 weeks. I'm on the hunt for the perfect BIRTHDAY DRESS. I already have one in mind, but it has to be made and the price tag is $300. Me being the "frugalista" I am....I'm kinda hesitant about placing my order, but I REALLLLLY love this dress. $300 was a STEAL for this STUNNING customized dress! However, I didn't even pay THAT much for my wedding gown!lol So, I decided to sleep on it one more night before contacting the designer (whom is EXTREMELY talented, might I add).
CUT TO NEXT DAY....
I'm browsing my Facebook newsfeed and scroll past Kerrie of Virtuous Styls pictures of an event she hosted/attended. As I'm looking through the photos, I spot this GORGEOUS gown created by a designer named Dionte (whom I STILL haven't found). All that went through my mind was "MERMAID!!! I'm a Pisces!! I WANT THIS DRESSSS for my birthday!" So, I stared at it for a good 30 minutes trying to figure out how I could replicate this look if I was unable to buy it. I set my sights out to find STRIPE fabric! I found NONE in my local fabric stores, NOR the usual fabric websites I frequent. TIME WAS TICKING...after failing to locate the fabric, I decided to just search for a stripe bodycon(ish) dress. I found a few, but they were all too short or too loose to create this look. My daughter and I went to Ross to get her a new backpack..and WHAT DO YOU KNOW....I FOUND THE PERFECT LENGTH STRIPE DRESS!! I was ECSTATIC! The dress was only 10.99!! I went to Walmart (the only one I know who still has a fabric department) to purchase the PINK tulle. They only had 3 yards and I knew I needed AT LEAST 7 in all for a full tulle bottom. I purchased everything I needed there (listed below). Luckily, Hobby Lobby is in the same plaza as the Walmart. So, I went there to purchase the remainder of the tulle. Below are instructions on how I achieved this GORGEOUS replica!

Supplies:
7 yards of tulle
Scissors
Elastic (at least 2 inches wide)
Needle
Thread
Velcro (if you'd like to be able to wear the dress without the tulle bottom)
A bucket, mannequin, block of wood..(anything you could use to hold the elastic while creating the tulle bottom).

1. Fold the tulle horizontally and begin cutting it into 6inch wide strips.

Tie the elastic around a bucket or something to keep the elastic stretched as you tie on the strips of tulle.


Fold the strip of tulle in half, put the loop part of the fold underneath the elastic and create a knot by pulling the remainder of the tulle through the loop.


As you add the tulle strips, slide them as close to each other as possible, and tighten the knot by pulling it. REPEAT until the elastic is filled with tulle.

AFTER THE ELASTIC HAS BEEN FILLED, grab your needle and thread and velcro (if desired).

You could either put on your dress (the way I did it), or stretch the dress over the bucket/mannequin..

#3 sew one half of the Velcro (the soft, fuzzy part) to the top part of the hem of the dress.
#4 sew the other half of the Velcro to the inside of the elastic/tulle.
#5 stick the tulle onto the dress and trim tulle if it's too long for you.
#6 FINITO!!!