Esther’s Belle Top
With this months stunning rainbow check fabric in the Classic Box, Esther made a Fibre Mood Belle Top
After months of not having a functional sewing room and my barely there sewjo, I am glad that my sewjo has mostly returned. I still haven’t fully set up my sewing room but all the important bits are reachable. I decided to take my newly found sewjo for a ride and make what I would consider to be a statement top.
I am on a mission to fill my wardrobe with tops as this is a major gap in my wardrobe. So as much as possible, I’m making tops to go with the bottoms I already own. When I received this fabric, however, I toyed with the idea of making a skirt instead of a top. I thought about a box pleated skirt. I was thinking the plain lines of a box pleated skirt would showcase the fabric nicely. I also thought about how interesting the print would look if I made a full circle skirt. But I decided to stick with my original idea of making a beautiful top.
This is the first time I have used a polyviscose fabric and I was intrigued at what it felt like. But it is such a wonderfully stable fabric, it was easy to cut into and to press. As always, I searched for inspiration for my top on the streets of Instagram and I stumbled on the Fibre mood Belle top that I had saved in my wish list a year ago. I decided the sleeves were going to make the greatest statement yet. I also felt that the simplicity of the lines would make it easy to get away with not pattern matching. Although, I still gave a good attempt at matching the side seams.
The top is a round neck basic box top with flounce sleeves. There is an option to add two flounce sleeves or just one. I decided it’s best to go big or go home so I made the double flounce version. My fears with this pattern was that the style of the top would make me look bulkier up top, which is never my desired look when I dress up. I also feared that with the flounce sleeves, the side seams would be too low and everyone would have a view of my bra whenever I raised my hands.
Fears notwithstanding, I decided to go for it. Looking at the finished garment measurements, I decided to make a medium. I felt this would fit me perfectly as it was a boxy fit top, I elected not to do a full bust adjustment. After downloading the pattern, I was glad to see that there was a separate side piece that ensured one’s bra remained modestly covered. The top came together quickly. The real work was in the sleeves. Halfway through, I thought about just making the single flounce but I decided to persevere.
The instructions on making the sleeves were quite genius – hemming was done on the flat sleeve pieces before they were attached to the top, I even enjoyed the way the button loop was attached. The instructions also included the points at which one should finish the seams. As one who makes a lot of big 4 patterns, I enjoy this level of precision on Indie patterns.
In truth, I think I enjoyed the sewing process more than the finished garment. The top is more roomy than I would make, making me look bigger than I actually am. I don’t think I’ll be giving up on this pattern so quickly, I’ll size down and try again. I still think it’s a cute top and one that easily dresses up an outfit.