a questionable new project

i've spoken often of my love of twinkle by wenlan's sewing patterns book.  i've made several garments from it (including the black puffed sleeve top with gold studs that i'm currently wearing to parent teacher conferences).  this next top has proven to be trouble though.

so cute right?  a dropped shoulder tunic.  i love the casual look of the dropped shoulder.  i love cowl necks.  apparently tunics and i don't work out well because without belting in this top, i drown in the fabric.  the top wasn't easy to make, as 2 long edges needed a rolled hem foot.  took me a bit to get the hang of it.  not too even:

what's even worse is that because the cowl and pleats weren't done in silk chiffon as the pattern suggested (i'm not too keen on mixing fabrics in garments because i like to machine wash things, not dry clean), they didn't hang as casually.  thus the pleats jut straight out to the side and look like clown town:

see, i'm torn.  sometimes i like the drama of the neck.  statement.  bold.  then other times i shake my head and think, what, was, i, thinking??  i thought maybe a belt in the same fabric would be better than a bold gold belt.

still seems a bit much.  i tried flipping the tunic inside out to see how it'd look without the pleats.  seems to be better, but it also just lost almost all of its drama, for better or for worse.  =(  not sure what to do.  tonight i'm going to pick the threads around the neck and try reattaching the cowl without the pleats to see if that solves it.

i hate when i'm not thrilled with a final result and have to keep reworking it until i'm decently pleased.  i do love the fabric so i'd hate to waste this project.  hopefully ditching the pleat around the neck saves this.  furthermore, parent teacher conferences are always the least fun thing possible.  a pick-me-up is needed.  

this was bunksy a couple of weeks ago.  apparently he has determined that his bunny water bottle isn't quality enough and that it is ok for him to help himself to my glass of water.  sure bunks, drink away!