I posted a pic of this top on Instagram during Me-Made-May and kept getting questions about the pattern, but it requires a bit of explanation so it seemed appropriate to write about it here. This top started as a possible spring pattern prototype that never went anywhere. It all started when I was making this ruffled Gemma top; I was mid-sew when I put on the bodice and threw the big ruffled skirt piece over my shoulder and then accidentally caught a glimpse of myself as I walked past a mirror. I really liked the ruffle over the shoulder...and hence this top was born.

I drafted the front and back center pieces off of Gemma (rotated the side darts so they angle towards the bottom corner), attached a giant ruffle all the way around, and then included two side pieces under the arm that extend under the ruffle and curve up and meet at the belly button (you can't really see these, but imagine it a bit like flower petals).

The first attempt was horrible and I just looked like a giant ruffle dumpling, so I added a single line of elastic shirring at the sides to help cinch it in and give it a bit more tailoring if you can even call it that.

It worked. Now I look like a pink butterfly! Wheee!

The fabric is a rose (almost mauve-ish?) double gauze that I had purchased for one of the dress samples for the Geranium for big kids (sizes 6-12) cover shoot when we put the pattern into print last summer. You can get a glimpse of the dress in the gorgeous cover shot by Rachel Kovac here. Rachel's daughter Tia is modeling it in the photo. Rachel's blog is Stitched Together.

I do really love double gauze so much. It's just so dreamy and comfortable to wear, and I love that it always looks a bit soft and rumpled.In the end, the side panels engineering issues were enough to put me off developing this pattern further; plus it got the side-eye from Elli and Jess when I showed them the initial photos. Maybe if I come up with a better solution this could really turn into something, but I have so many ideas that I'm totally OK when something just becomes a top for me to wear. It's all part of the creative process, no?

Hope you enjoyed getting a little peek into what happens when a pattern idea goes nowhere. Well, not quite nowhere...but you know what I mean.

Pink Ruffle Concoction

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