Flyaway tunic.

I made this top from some expensive linen that I didn't mean to buy.  It was on a rack at Spotlight, with a considerably cheaper cotton linen which is what I thought I was buying.  Grrrr, I wish people would put things back where they are supposed to go - that sort of thing just makes me wild!  After it was cut and they put the price sticker on it, I swore very loudly inside my brain and seriously considered meandering up to a quiet corner of the store and secretly stuffing it under a shelf.  But it was such a pretty pink, I just couldn't leave it behind.  So, I begrudgingly paid for my accidental purchase and cursed in the car all the way home.

As the material was pricey, and stuffing things up at this point would send me completely over the edge (I am prone to histrionics, sometimes), I kept things simple.  I've made this type of tunic top before many times.  This time though, instead of the usual zipper, it has a button opening at the back.  As I was making the buttonholes, I remembered how much of a squiggle Sophie can be when I am trying to dress her in the morning, and what a pig it would be to do these buttons up.  Yes, all damn three of them.   Again, I swore very loudly inside my brain (or maybe even outside my brain).  Why didn't I just use a freaking zipper?

And then, a little light-bulb popped above my head - I had a thought to make some wings which I could button on to the back of the dress for some extra cuteness and to give those buttons something better to do other than be the poor alternative to the zipper I wished I had used in the first place.

And thankfully, it was a cinch!

Do you know when you have an idea and you think "Gaw-awh!!  That's going to take me five goes before I get the template, pattern, sizing, etc. right...".  Nup, first time - easy peasy!  It was meant to be...sigh.





While these wings are more an angelic type of shape, any shape - butterfly, fairy, bird, bug, could be made to fit this one tunic.   However, I am planning to make more of these tops (and maybe even some lengthened into dresses) and am now thinking of the endless combinations of tops and wings, all mixed and matched and able to be changed instantly.  A white knee-length dress with gold wings for Christmas?  A bright pink top with equally bright and boldly spotted butterfly wings?  And for Halloween, maybe a dark coloured top with bat wings?  And teenier tops with teenier wings for tinier people than Sophie.  The possibilities for every day dress-ups are endless.

So, hooray!  Though still poorer, I am now much more happier than I was a couple of days ago...



...well, maybe not that happy, but a bit happier.