Bat Winged Wearable Art Jacket, Cape, Shawl and Wrap

’Obvious, Pteropus’ is clearly “batty”!

With bat wings and a fluffy, tailed hood, this stunning wearable art garment was inspired by the amazing grey-headed flying foxes which live here.

Grey-headed flying foxes, or pteropus poliocephalus, are megabats- the largest Australian bats. They have rusty black wings, chestnut/rust fur on their bodies and silver-grey fur on their heads. Interestingly, unlike many bats, they do not echolocate. These creatures are endlessly fascinating to watch and listen to. I love seeing the local colony of about 50 000 bats pour out of the forest and fly low overhead of an evening, off for a night’s foraging.

This unique Freeform crochet lacework garment can be worn in a variety of “configurations”- the “wings” can be buttoned up (with four metal buttons inside each wing) to form sleeves, or left undone so that the wingwrap is in cape configuration, or left open and thrown to the front or back and tied like a shawl or wrap, and of course, it can be worn with the hood up or down.

The far outer edges of each wing taper to elegant, but sturdy crochet rings which can be slipped over the wearer’s index, middle or ring fingers.

Size- ‘Obvious, Pteropus’ should fit most wearers. The overall wingspan is approx. 84”/214cm, which allows room for elbow movement when the wingwrap’s sleeves are buttoned up, or to tie the wings together in shawl/wrap configuration. When fastened at the front, it will fit a wearer with a neck measurement of up to 20”/52cm. The tail measures 18.5”/47cm from the base of the hood to the 7”/18cm long, luxuriant tassel.

The photos show me “flying” in ‘Obvious, Pteropus’. To give an idea of size- my “wingspan”, from base of middle finger to base of middle finger, measured across the back, is 60”/5’/160cm and I have room to move in the garment.

This piece is very soft and wearable as well as versatile. It is made from some beautiful and exotic yarns which will give long and durable wear. ‘Obvious, Pteropus’ wings are made completely from the softest, very fine, rusty black/deepest-brown 90% alpaca/10% wool, which was sourced directly from a farm in New Zealand which follows ethical practices in caring for its animals.

The silver-grey, bronze and rust/grey hood and tail are made of soft, fuzzy, synthetic feathers yarn, and the edging and parts of the spheroided tail are made from exotic, sequinned designer yarns in silver and bronze tones. A fine, charcoal-black, alpaca/wool/silver-metallic yarn was used in the front bands and leading wing edges.