Green Goodness - Fibremood Gladys Hack

Jan 15

Jan 15 Green Goodness - Fibremood Gladys Hack

Starting of my sewing year with a simple yet beautiful hack of the Fibremood Gladys pattern. It has been over a month since I sewed anything so I wanted to make sure I was not working on anything too intense right off the bat. Hacking a top seemed like the right amount of challenge.

PS. I made this garment as part of a paid collaboration with Fibremood + Polytex Stoffen + Mettler Thread

Pattern/Fabric Details:

The FibreMood Gladys pattern features a top and dress view, both have a ruffled trim and the dress version features a flounce as well. The size range goes up to 57” (size 28) for both bust and hips. I made a size 14 based on the finished garment measurements - My body measurements 41” bust, 34.5” waist, 45” hips. I made it out of viscose fabric so it has a lot of beautiful drape which is perfect for this pattern.

Pattern Adjustments:

I made quite a few changes to achieve a very specific look I wanted. Below are the changes I made with some visuals to help.

1. Neckline lowered by 1.5” - Personally, I think the original neckline sits slightly too high so I chose to lower it to my desired point.

Original pattern piece at the top vs. my modified version under it

2. Front and back bodice lengthened by 5” - Because the pattern also has a dress view, the front and back bodices are made for the dress pattern which means they are shorter than it should be if you plan to make a blouse. The instructions state to add 5” if you wish to sew the top version so I did just that.

3. Front yoke and lower bodice joined to make 1 front piece - Because the original pattern features ruffles, the front bodice is divided into two separate pieces to accommodate the ruffle insertion. I chose to join these two pieces together (by folding out the seam allowance) since I was not planning to add the ruffles.

Circled: where front yoke joins lower bodice

4. Ruffles eliminated, gathers added at the front shoulders - Since I decided to not add the ruffles, I thought adding some gathers at the shoulders to add a ‘softer’ look to the top. To achieve these gathers, I used the slash and spread method to widen the front bodice to twice its width and gathered it back to the original shoulder width once I cut the fabric out.

Left - original front piece vs. modified front piece; Right - Fabric gathered back to original shoulder width

5. Volume added to sleeves and elastic placed at 4” above sleeve hem - I used the slash and spread method to make the sleeves fuller.

6. Semi-faux button placket - I chose to sew the button placket shut except for the top 2” where I installed one button/buttonhole. This was to ensure the top would go over my head, I would still be able to easily breastfeed if needed, and to also avoid making multiple buttonholes haha!

Note: I feel like there is always at least one step that I just cannot seem to fully understand when I’m sewing Fibremood patterns. This time it was how to attach the neckline binding so I ended up improvising a little bit. Just a reminder that you do not have to strictly follow pattern instructions.

Styling

Now on to my favourite part outside of the sewing process :-) I chose to style it 2 ways - with a slip skirt and a pair of jeans. Although I adore it paired with the slip skirt, I know I’ll be wearing it mostly with jeans/pants. However I hope to bring the slip skirt combo out again when I have somewhere fun to wear it. Until then. the casual look will be my go-to.

I hope this helped visualize what my hacking process usually is like. I’m hoping to share more details like this moving forward. Somehow I missed taking a photo of the back of the top but if you follow me on IG, you’ll be able to see it in the video I post on my feed.

Happy sewing,

Sylvia XOXO