Clever Doris: World Flippin' Book Day - Another level of mum-stress

I relish a fancy dress challenge as much as the next Doris and believe me I've had more than my fair share of costume challenges in this crazeee house. Over many years I've created a wrestler, a pirate, an elvis jumpsuit (fat Las Vegas period), a peter pan, a gladiator (roman variety, not wolf/ulrika/oversized cotton buds version).
And then there're the outfits for the kids...

Tues 5th march 9pm - received text from a good, albeit not-got-a-crafty-bone-in-her-body friend. Gist of text was a request for some short trousers from Clever Norris for her older/taller son to borrow for 'WBD'. Not being in possession of required trousers and, coupled with increasing senility, I took 'WBD' as some sort of code and therefore paying not a jot of attention to its meaning I switched off my phone and moved on.

Weds 6th march 9am - dirty great big notice outside school reminding parents that 'tomorrow is World Book Day so don't forget to dress your precious child in his/her favourite literary character'. Oh nuts!: realising I couldn't possibly undertake this challenge without input from Clever Norris it would have to wait until later that day before I embarked upon the task. Fancy dress dept. at Asda was not an option...

Weds 6th march 3:30pm -
CD: what do you want to dress up as for World Book Day?
CN: the gruffalo
CD: but we dont have any fur or pointy things
CN: why not?
CD: because we don't
CN: but I want to be the gruffalo
CD: well you can't
CN: but why?
CD: ask your father...
CD: how about Willy Wonka?
CN: not sure really, I'd rather be Mr Tickle
CD: Willy Wonka it is then.

I figured, using the contents of the dressing up box and fabric remnants I-can't-bear-to-throw-away-just-in-case, I could rustle up something that would pass for the great Mr W.
My first step was to acquire a basic white shirt (which I found kicking around at the bottom of the wardrobe under the piles of rugby boots and stinking kit) along with some fabric I could cobble into a waistcoat of some description.

I know Willy Wonka favours a purple accent so I was fortunate to find some purple cloth. Due to its woolly properties (which would make CN sweat like a glassblowers bottom) and my overall time restraints, I thought that I would make only half a waistcoat (i.e. front visible only). This involved just 2 front pieces for which I first drafted a pattern.

I cut the 2 purple front pieces and bound the edges in bias binding (which, hurrah, I happened to have in purple too).

I machine stitched the 2 pieces to the shoulder and side seams...

...and hammered in a natty little brass popper.

Added jacket (part of a former Dr Who outfit for Clever Maurice). Top hat taken from 'Marvins Magic Set', with the addition of some gold lining fabric for both hat trim and

jaunty necker.

Trouble is at this point I still wasn't sure if he'd look like the Artful Dodger or Slash from Guns 'n' Roses so I made the golden ticket, just to be sure...