Fibre Mood patterns have been popping up here and there on Instagram and in blogs.  I haven’t delved deeply into them, other than working out that Fibre Mood appears to be a European online sewing commuity and pattern magazine, with individual patterns also available for purchase.

I gave the free Frances top pattern a crack. It’s very similar to the popular Assembly Line Cuff top (which is not free) in that it  has cap sleeves gathered into elastic ‘cuffs’.  Fibre Mood describe the Frances top as Oversized top in lightweight fabric with short, loose, gathered sleeves. A round, wide neckline on the front. The top is slightly longer in the back and the neckline has a slightly deeper cut. Sizing ranges from XS to XXXL.

The fabric that I used is a semi-sheer crepe, from very deep stash (it’s vintage, passed on to me from someone else). It’s got the right sort of hand and drape for this pattern, and I love the contrasting white/red print, but it’s probably too predominantly black for me. It was easier to sew with than I thought. I did make sure that I stabilised the neckline before sewing and binding – I knew that otherwise it would stretch out.

The elasticised cuffs were pretty easy to do. Essentially just sew a casing, and insert the elastic. I think that you could try this with different widths; wider might have been nice. Size wise, this is actually too big for me. I can’t remember what size I actually cut out, but in some ways it was fortunately that I cut out a larger one rather than a smaller one because I forgot that this pattern requires you to add seam allowances! If you sew it, don’t forget that seam allowances are NOT included. It’s a wearable size for me, but it feels thaat bit too voluminous all around. I am hoping that Mum will want to take this one off my hands – I can see it fitting nicely into her wardrobe!

I’m not sure that I was excited enough by this pattern to really get into Fibre Mood at this stage. Having to add seam allowances is always a downer for me; I’m just not used to doing it. But they do seem to have some interesting styles, so I suppose that I’ll continue to pop over to their website from time to time and take a look.