I've been eyeing the Fibre Mood fan club here in Europe for some time. They use a lot of linen and broderie anglaise and give off an artistic, somewhat bohemian vibe, drawing on loose, blousey artistic silhouettes evoking lofts in Amsterdam, country walks in Provence, and Paris galleries. You couldn't imagine anything farther from the fitted Dior New Look or tailored Chanel bourgeoise lady look or the classic Ralph Lauren Hamptons look or the Armani Milanese suited executive or the New York activewear mood if you tried.
The Harmony blouse might have been the wrong choice for a woman of my age--the nautical look was meant for four-year-old English princes and Shirley Temple. To offset the Lord Fauntleroy effect, I should have stuck with the Fibre Mood fabrication for women over 50--plain linen or lightweight denim.
But no, I saw a quilting cotton online for pennies with a tiny anchor motif on a navy background and thought, why not? I used a discarded pillowcase for the white trim and red buttons on the fiddly neck closure on one side. The result was a cool, light dress for early buffet breakfasts at an Italian hotel over the last few blistering hot weeks, (photo above in Liguria) But the dress looks too twee for Geneva city wear and too seaside for Swiss mountain wear.
My first take on using a Fibre Mood pattern? I was less than thrilled with their diagrams' very fine lines, fiddly unfamiliar colored notation system, but most of all, with the disappointment of having no written instructions inside the magazine's printed manual. I had to keep checking and rechecking explanations for the complicated construction of the bodice framing trim insertion on my computer. (That is not a proper sailor collar you see, but an inserted trim.) I was raised on the bold, black and white diagrams of the Big 4 patterns and when I buy a pattern, I expect the instructions to be included. I think Fibre Mood do it online so they can offer multiple languages beyond Vogue's English and French.
Fibre Mood also advises a 10 cm seam allowance to be added, but again, I'm used to adding 1.5 cm to everything. What with the computer here, the big book there, and still not understanding how I was supposed to turn those corners, flipping here and there, it was a muddle. I also found the construction of the neck placket hard to read for the same reason of unfamiliarity with their system.
I suspect this is a problem of simply not being used to such a different style of colored graphics and the need for a computer. Their styling is growing on me and their latest magazine is very tempting. As the French say, I may 'crack' again.
It does look very lovely by the seaside! Thanks for the review. I’ve not been convinced by Fibremood and hearing that they have bad instructions have just made me less interested! You, however, do have a very lovely dress and don’t look at all like a toddler.
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