Being able to sew is GREAT. Not only am I able to whip up things for myself (and a girl’s gotta love sneaky additions to her wardrobe), I can sew gifts for other people.

Especially as I seldom have a CLUE what to buy folks for their birthdays or for Christmas.

Of course, I only make things for those I care about. And so, when my friend Sandra’s birthday came up last May, I had a great opportunity to bust my stash AND create something she’d love.

Knowing that she often teams big tops with dark leggings, I dug into my patterns and pulled out this sadly discontinued little number, McCalls 6241;

(I may have bought it because I already have black sequinned leggings, and pictured myself recreating the main outfit…)

I love the little tucks on one shoulder and near one side of the hemline, as they create a subtle drape that’s really elegant when worn.

Of course, I needed the right fabric to go with it. And oh, OH, I loved this fabric when I bought it; all the right colours for me, a beautiful heavy viscose jersey with fantastic drape, and butterflies. Butterflies! You know how much I like butterflies.

But the fabric just didn’t like me. SIGH. No matter what I did with it, or how I draped it over my dress form, I couldn’t get away from the fact that the print was just too large-scale for me.

MAJOR SAD FACE.

So it wasn’t until a few years’ later, and my inability to buy decent presents reared its ugly head AGAIN, that I came upon it’s INTENDED recipient; my friend.

CUE MAJOR HAPPY FACE x 2 as she ADORES it – she’s said she’s actively having to not wear it TOO much, so as not to ruin the fabric through laundering. And nothing can make me happier than that.

Because sometimes it’s about enjoying a butterfly’s flight, as they go to land on someone else.