My Latest Make - Fibre Mood, Mindy Dress

I was highly anticipating the arrival of the Fibre Moodsummer edition as there were actually quite a few things in this edition I wanted to make and I’d just purchased some beautiful linen from the New CraftHouse which would match perfectly with the Mindy dress. This fabric is so fun! It’s bright pink and white gingham linen. It’s super wide so I have some leftover to make something else. The stripes are quite close together so I didn’t worry too much about pattern matching just that the pieces were cut straight.

Before I could begin with the cutting out though, I first had to trace out the pattern and there are a few things to note about Fibre Mood patterns which can be quite frustrating:

1) In the magazine the size chart is written in UK sizes e.g. 6, 8, 10 etc. but then on the pattern sheet they’re only labelled in European sizes e.g. 34, 36, 38 etc. so you have to convert them.

2) There is a key on the pattern sheets for each pattern but the sizes aren’t written on the lines on the pattern so you need keen attention to detail to make sure you’re tracing the correct dotted line which is difficult when they’re all overlapping.

3) There are overlapping patterns on each sheet, it’s not too bad you can easily see the separate pieces. However, they are only numbered, it doesn’t say which pattern they are for. It took me a little while to realise they were colour coded. Not sure how colour blind people would cope with this (my Dad is colour blind and I think he would need someone to tell him what was what).

4) Some pattern pieces will be split across separate pages so you need to piece them together, which is difficult due to point 3. 

5) The seam allowance is not included so you have to add it on after you’ve traced which I totally forgot about to begin with and had to add on later. It tells you in the magazine how much seam allowance to add for each piece.

6) Then finally, the instructions in the magazine are only in images so for full instructions you can download them from the website. You need an account to access them, which is free.

So all in all quite a lot of hurdles before you’ve begun to make anything! If you’re willing to persevere with it though then it’s worth it as their designs are really cool! I think a lot of this could be made simpler with better labelling and clearer instructions on how to use the patterns.

The dress itself is lovely, I particularly like the big sleeves and the square neckline. The pattern calls for a zip but I didn’t need it as I can pull this over my head easily. I couldn’t find anywhere where they state what cup size their patterns are made for and you have to choose your size for this dress based on your bust size so I think that could have been made clearer. My version feels slightly too big and the sleeves fall down constantly so I might add some tabs to attach to my bra.

Overall, I like this dress and it’s definitely a good match for this fabric. I don’t think I’ll make another one as it does really annoy me that the sleeves fall down constantly, I could size down but then I’d have to retrace the pattern again and I don’t think I have the energy to do that yet!