Fibre Mood Clemence top from the new issue 16 is a nod to the 80s revival. Are you into the 80s? I wasn’t sure but one thing is certain: Fibre Mood is into giving us the ability to recreate trends, so I’m encouraged to sew things that are out of my comfort zone! Sure I could sew and wear classics all year round but my sense of style isn’t that strong and I do like to try new stuff just for the heck of it sometimes. Did I tell you a capsule wardrobe isn’t really for me?
Disclaimer: I work as a freelancer and Fibre Mood is one of my clients, therefore I did not buy the pattern myself. Links to Fibre Mood are affiliate. I am not obliged to blog about this make or even make it at all. Of course opinions are my own and I try to give you what I like and what I don’t like, but as you can imagine there is always going to be subconscious bias.
Fibre Mood Clemence – pattern details
Knit top with pleated shoulder detail to give the shoulders as much attention as possible. Go big or go home! Without the pleat, there’s not much point in making the pattern. I would call this a semi fitted top, but as ever, check the ease on the bust to see what you prefer.
Fabric
This is definitely a #SewWhatIHave make, fabric leftover from a garment I made for a sewalong last year for Fibre Mood. And has been sitting in my offcuts box for almost a year now. If you haven’t heard about the IG challenge that I’m running with my friend Joyce (@poplinpeony) head over to this post. The point is to sew with stuff you already have instead of buying more. Basically, attack thy fabric stash!
I had this organic leaf jacquard from Mind the Maker which I got from Studio Spatz, my local fabric webshop that sells only more sustainably produced fabrics. The details:
- 280gsm
- Feels heavy and takes quite some time to dry.
- 95% organic cotton (GOTS), 5% elastane
The texture of this is great, it looks like fabric you might see in a RTW cardigan (I’m not keen on making e.g. a cardigan from french terry, I want my knitwear to look … knitted). But despite the elastane the recovery is awful. I measured 10cm of fabric between 2 pins, stretched it out to see if it would be stretchy enough as ribbing for the cuffs as hem bands. It was plenty stretchy, but guess what, when I let the fabric relax again it was suddenly 12cm in length instead of 10cm.
More observations …
Fibre Mood Clemence is probably designed to be worn untucked, given the hemband. But I like all my tops tucked. So if I made it again I would probably lengthen the body by 5cm and ditch the hemband.
The neckband is really thick, by design … my guesstimate is that it is around 2.5cm wide. But it is a bit chunkier than I’d like. My standard is to cut a neckband with a width of around 5cm, including a seam allowance of 2cm. Therefore, finished width is 1.5cm which is plenty wide enough for me.
I almost sized up – I made size small, my bust size is 82cm. As it stands it is fine as is, but I like my jumpers looser so I probably wouldn’t try and wear one of my oversized Tyra tees under it. But a cami or fitted tee is fine. Mostly, I was concerned the shoulders would look disproportionate if I sized up.
Seeing as it is a trend item, I added a 2021 label by Kylie and the Machine to remind myself when I made it. Only 6 more of these labels to use up … before 2021 ends!
Verdict
I’m very happy with the fabric and pattern pairing on this one and that I have a nice winter warmer jumper that looks great as a going out top (rather than only sweatshirt vibes).
My mister raised his eyebrows at me with an “are you mad!” expression when I showed him the pic of what I planned to make. When I was done made comments at me like “you look like a robot … did you make that to put in a dress up box for the kids …” no worries, we make a bit of a sport to see what kind of comments he can come up with!
It is definitely feeling like a trend item, but with all things like this (I put the shoulder pad tank top in this category too) I’m of the opinion you just have to own it and wear it. Since I don’t have a lot of warm non-sweatshirt tops I’m quite up for wearing this all season long while the trend lasts and hopefully be able to meet the Fashion Revolution 30 wears.
Till next time
Kate x
3 comments
Ha, that is such an interesting design! Having lived through 80s fashion, I am fascinated to see that shoulder pads are not the only way of achieving big shoulders. It was definitely the only way I ever saw back then.
Hi there, thanks for your comment! I’m a child of the 80s but never got to wear the 80s fashion when it was “live” … I’m dead pleased with some trends really, pushes me to try other stuff!
I think it looks gorgeous and I don’t think we have to worry about trends when we sew as if you become tired of the style and the fabric holds up to time we can always redo the sleeve style. Especially with it being roomy there is space for restyling, just something to consider. Great fabric choice too.