Today I’ve got a faux dress, put together with two (ridiculously simple) patterns from the latest issue of Fibre Mood magazine (issue no. 10) – which is being released the same day this blog post goes live!

Meet the Fibre Mood Ida (top) and the Fibre Mood Betsy (skirt).*

When I saw the offerings in this edition of Fibre Mood, I was immediately drawn to the look of these two patterns together. In a statement print, it just seemed like ideal summer comfort dressing!

Fibre Mood Betsy Skirt

You may have seen recently that elastic waists and have definitely been having a moment for me. So why not extend the trend to an elastic waisted skirt?

My Fibre Mood Betsy skirt is a size 18 (46, European sizes).

This skirt, pretty much couldn’t be simpler.

3 pattern pieces.

If you think about it, the entire project actually just requires the sewing of 5 straight lines. 2 side seams, 1 waistband attachment, 1 closing the waistband, 1 hem.

Also, on the electronic version, there is an option to print either with or without seam allowances (what a perfect solution to the age-old debate of those who want seam allowances vs those who prefer without!). So there was no messing around with tracing and adding seam allowances either, making this the very definition of a speedy sew!

I must admit, though, I couldn’t resist complicating it slightly for my version of the Fibre Mood Betsy Skirt.

Since the distinctive high-low hem on the Fibre Mood Betsy Skirt means that some of the inside of your skirt will be visible in flashes, I decided to use french seams to give everything a nice neat finish.

Plus, I was also motivated here by the fact that my overlocker despises dealing with fine fabrics. Actually, to be accurate, I think it loves them.

Loves eating them, that is.

French seams keeps that greedy old overlocker out of the picture.

I also decided to add in-seam pockets.

Because pockets.

I used the in-seam pockets from the Winslow Culottes by Helen’s Closet, because they were the first ones I found when I crawled underneath my sewing table and started going through my boxes of cut-out patterns.

I even French-seamed the pocket too! Yeah, my overlocker really hates fine fabrics!

I’m not going to lie, I was looking at my Fibre Mood Besty Skirt, all neatly cut out, and I had a moment where I was like: ” I could be done in about an hour if I just sew it like this. Do I really need the pockets and the French seams?”

But, I overrode that lazy side of me and put in the effort to make it just that bit more special. And I’m so glad I did.

The little extra finishing touches I added to the project really took no more than a couple of hours extra, but will vastly improve the wear, look and utility of my Besty Skirt.

In addition to French seams and adding pockets, I also decided to bias bind the hem. The pattern instructions call for a micro hem. I’ve always kind of sucked at sewing curved hems – they always end up bumpy and lumpy at a certain point, so I decided a bias bound finish would ensure I didn’t let myself down with the finish and it would also look pretty for those flashes of the inside.

Finally, I also top stitched down the elastic waistband. Ever since I sewed the Pietra pants by Closet Case patterns, I feel that it gives a far superior finished look.

Fibre Mood Ida Top

On the top half, we have the Fibre Mood Ida , in top form (you can also extend it in length to be a dress).

My Fibre Mood Ida is a size medium, graded to large at the hips.

I find it hard to resist a good v-neck and, after my recent Pinnacle Top debacle, it’s nice to sew a v-neck whose facing piece is, you know, the correct size! Fibre Mood Ida is a simple boxy top, with no darts or shaping, with v-necks at the front back and cute cuffs.

Sewing this one up was very straightforward and easy. In future versions, I think I might slightly make the neck a tad smaller by removing a sliver along the shoulder because it does gape a little at the shoulder.

The Fibre Mood Ida is also pretty roomy at the under arm – there is some potential for under arm bra flash, for me at least.

All, in all, I find this top cute, comfortable and I really like its combination with the Betsy Skirt. The instructions indicate that you can also wear the top backwards, in order to have the less deep V at the front. I honestly find that there is not a huge difference between the plunge at the front and back – so there’s a good chance I’ll find myself occasionally wearing it backwards by accident in any event.

Atelier Brunette love

This fabric, of course, is the latest release from Atelier Brunette Shade Cobalt viscose. I found all three colours of this fabric the kind of thing that I had the potential to fall in love with. It was difficult to choose.

To make these two in faux dress form, I had 3 metres (it’s 140cm wide). This gave me enough fabric to also make self bias binding to hem the skirt. I also still had a decently sized square leftover – enough to re-cut any pieces of the top if I had somehow catastrophically messed things up.

Dressed neck to ankle in this print, I’m definitely feeling a little “all dressed up but nowhere to go” but it remains so divinely comfortable that it can still be “home” wear.

Now I’m Jjst waiting for the Dutch weather to warm up for me again…

It starts to rain every time I launch myself on a truly summery project!

**Full disclosure, I received the electronic version of these patterns free of charge from Fibre Mood in advance of release of the magazine’s latest edition. I was not required, in exchange, to post or share these makes. In addition, I also have a Fibre Mood magazine subscription fully paid out of my own pocket – it’s the only sewing magazine I subscribe too!

Oh and, finally, a little P.S! If you like to get your blog hits through Bloglovin’, feel free to follow me over there: you can find me here. And you can find me on Instagram here.