Today I have a fun one to share with you guys, a big bold gingham linen version of the Fibre Mood Belle Top from Fibre Mood magazine.
It seems that in each edition of Fibre Mood there is at least one pattern which starts to take off amongst the sewing community and the more I see it, the more I get excited!
For this edition, it was definitely Fibre Mood Belle.
My version of the Fibre Mood Belle is a size Large and I chose to sew it up with two flounces (the pattern includes one sleeve flounce, with a second one being an optional extra).
Ever since I sewed the Fibre Mood Alix Skirt, I have been desperately wanting a matching top to make ahead-to-toe faux dress out of it.
Well, I finally bit the bullet and went for it with the Fibre Mood Belle, after buying some more of this lovely linen gingham from The Fabric Store. I couldn’t be happier with how it’s come out.
In addition to being a really fun garment, I’d highlight that it was a very quick sew. It only took me two sessions of evening sewing (that includes pattern tracing and cutting time) to bring this Fibre Mood Belle to life.
I used only the abbreviated instructions in the magazine itself and experienced no issues.
I would point out that it is really important to securely mark your notches with something other than snipping into the fabric. Because you need to do lots of gathers where the notches are, snips will simply disappear and be impossible to find later. And the fit of the Fibre Mood Belle top really relies on having the notches correctly marked to ensure that the side panel is placed in the correct position. Plus, the shape of the side panel is quite unusual so you can’t easily muddle through on instinct.
It’s really easy to mess up attaching the side panel in the correct position if you’ve lost sight of your notches amongst all the gathers. Ask me how I know!!
The only other little tip is that the Fibre Mood Belle came out a bit longer than I was expecting, reaching all the way down to the tops of my thighs. As a result, on my body, it was bit to tight on the lower reaches of my body, I had expected it to stop more at my true hip. I ended up shortening my version by about 1.5 inches to ensure that it wasn’t hitting my body at a point where it was too tight.
I agonised a bit over whether to fully shorten my Fibre Mood Belle by about three inches to make it cropped or to keep it that bit longer. Extra length creates more flexibility and can always be tucked for certain styles. Not having to tuck in excess fabric, however, can be more comfortable and create a smoother line.
In the end, I went with keeping it longer as I tried it on a few different ways and liked the way the non-cropped version looked with jeans, so I figured I could live with tucking!
All-in-all, I feel like a ruffly, checkered vision of summer in this combination of the Fibre Mood Belle top and the Fibre Mood Alix Skirt.
It’s love at first flounce!
If you want to see more of my sewing adventures, you can find me on Instagram here.