Your friend's idea with the tulle sounds good. You could also attach a scarf at the middle of the back which then drapes shawl-like over your elbows, if you liked the flowy aspect of it. Or add another layer to the skirt in addition to the tulle, or add embellishments with personal meaning (giving it that OOAK look can cut you a bit of slack while you're learning to use a sewing machine, too!

) The silver lining here is that the dress is fairly minimalist in style, which gives you a lot of options.