Correct me if I’m wrong, but I get the impression that unless you’re twig-thin, the top worn over leggings should be at least crotch-length. Like a tunic.

Since I avoid belts if I can help it, and since I find that un-belted tunics tend to look like maternity tops on most busty women, I avoided both tunics and leggings until last October, when I fell in love with this sweater at the Busty Clothing Swap.

I proceeded to buy my first pair of leggings to go with it, but during my November OOTD Challenge, I finally accepted that while the color may be great, the style of this sweater makes me look like a popsicle on a stick when combined with leggings. Plus, noone ever complimented me on it when I wore it.

However, now I owned a pair of leggings, and they were as comfortable as everyone had always claimed. I wanted to be part of the leggings crowd!

I started looking for more tunics, but I couldn’t find any, which was a giant surprise given the gazillions of women I see walking around in crotch-length tops over their leggings all the time. Then just after Christmas I found this promising tunic for $24.99 on the Land’s End website and bought it in size Large Petite.

The length was perfect. It was super comfortable. The color was flattering. Even the neckline, which some customers reviewed as too low, fell at a flattering point just where my cleavage begins (although it doesn’t look very flattering in the photo below).

But something was wrong.

Could it be the diagonal folds coming from the apex of my breasts? And if so, can such a thing be fixed?

I’m going to try to find out. I’ve pinned darts into this top, and I’m sending the pics to Leila Breton , the ultra-talented blogger over at Three Dresses Project.

Here are my questions for her:

1. Can alterations make this look more streamlined on me?

2. If so, what changes do I need to make?

3. How difficult will it be?

I get super impatient with sewing, but I’m almost tempted to buy a sewing machine if she tells me it’ll be worth it.

How about you? If you believe you can get away with belt-less tunics and have tips for doing so, please send me an email at darlene [at] hourglassy [dot] com with pics for a follow-up post.