Defying Gravity

Like most brides, I bought a lovely dress that I absolutely adore, but that needed to be altered just a bit.  It's so common, I bet bridal gown manufacturers purposefully make them so that they'll need to be altered.  They probably have a deal going with the seamstresses.  Just kidding; I'm not that much of a conspiracy theorist.  But seriously, I don't know many brides who can wear their dress as-is when it arrives.  I was prepared to go in and put my dress under the knife seam ripper.

I happen to love my seamstress.  She lives in a house up in the hills with a beautiful view, and together, we have deconstructed bits of my dress and reconstructed them so that A) the skirt is not a big puffball, B) there isn't a train, and C) the dress actually stays put.  Or as I like to call it, defying gravity.

Not sure if you're aware, but even with a bit of boning, strapless dresses don't uh, stay put.  Not if you have a little bit of, uh, an hourglass shape?  (I can't vouch for other body types, as I never wore strapless anythings when I was a pre-pubescent stick figure, and have had zero success in my post-pubescent hourglassness)  So we've been getting creative.  Adding "waist belt" elastics, additional boning, and finally last night, a "waist cinchy sort of belt/corset piece of stretchy but tight fabric thing". And we seem to have found a solution.  It's very exciting, raising my arms and feeling like the dress stays in place, even when I lower my arms again!  Now she just has to finalize the hem (don't want to finish a hem before you figure out where the dress is going to sit on your body), let out the back a little (you let it out so there's more fabric to tighten it back up without squishing/pinching your back fat), take in the sides of the bodice a tad, tack on the sash, and complete the finishing for the top of the bodice!  Easy peasy in 2 weeks, right?   Ann is awesome.  Have faith in her.  I do.

Second part of the story...This is a picture of me, in our office/guestroom (someday), holding a giant bag of tulle.  This bag of tulle is all the tulle that is no longer in my wedding dress.  We removed a lot of tulle.  Four layers, to be exact.

Now I have a giant bag of tulle, and if I don't think of something to do with it, I'll just give it back to Ann, since she will surely need it someday to insert into the dress of a bride looking for a poofier dress than I.

Of course, I could make myself a tutu (or as my grandpa would say, a three-three).  Swan Lake in my backyard, anyone?  No?  Yeah.  I don't really need a tutu.  Could be used for a great Halloween costume at some point, or I'm sure Reed could find something to do with it...but the reality is that I probably will not find a reason to use it.  Though the cheap Jew in me is all, "But I paid for this tulle! It's part of my dress! I bought it! It's mine!",  I do kind of like the idea of bits of my dress going to good use, helping some other bride who wants a fluffier skirt.  

What would YOU do with a bag full of tulle?