Fibremood Edition 32 has just dropped and I chose the Fulki, which is a long, asymmetric wrap skirt with an interesting button fastening and patch pockets. It is a perfect canvas for topstitching too.

I made one as a kind of practice, and chose a length of vintage red cotton velveteen which had been donated to my stash. Of course it has a nap so the cutting out wasn’t quite as efficient as it could be, but I was able to use the scraps on the dog bed I made for my grandpup.

It’s worn here with a self-drafted tee shirt.

It’s hard to press this fabric, even with a velvet cloth, but it actually looks quite good in real life. I didn’t do much top stitching as the pile gets bent out of shape, so only did where necessary.

I tried a few combinations, and it goes well with my Fibremood Tirza, made from an old Ikea curtain.

I think it’s longer than intended as I’m quite short, but I really like this length. This is a most comfortable skirt to wear and I anticipate it being in frequent rotation as the weather cools down.

A denim version is fairly obvious and I had some orange denim leftover from a bundle I bought at Fab Scrap in Brooklyn. I’ve already made Stokx Square Pants and a Pattern Union Felix Jacket (made with the reverse side) from this fabric, and it was great to use the last little bit.

This is what I had left over, with the pieces at the front going in the scrap bin, and adopted as a toy by Pepper the puppy.

Although the scraps look quite big I didn’t have quite enough for the skirt and finished up with a bit of a divot in the hem. I decided I would simply add a patch to cover it, so this is how it looked.

Somehow the patch, being at centre back annoyed me when I walked, so I unpicked it and replaced it with a wide band of Japanese silk ribbon that I got at a Fibres West garage sale. It’s much more comfortable and looks quite nice when the back gets flashed.

I’ve worn this skirt a lot. I initially paired it with the top I created at Fibres West 2023 in the mordanting class. The linen had already been cut out by my mother, I think she just cut a front and a back with no pattern!

It really suits the skirt though.

Then I added the aforementioned Felix Jacket, practicing for when it gets cooler, and the cropped length works perfectly with the skirt.

I had to try it with my new Stokx Coco top made from a tablecloth. I think it’s a pretty fabulous combo

Then I wondered how it would look with the Fibremood Ines. Now the thing with the Ines is that it’s very cropped (think midriff baring) so I had added 10cm, which was too much, and I didn’t make it looser so the blouson effect was less than ideal and I haven’t worn it since I made it. I thought I’d demonstrate why!

It’s brown which is a very trendy colour, although not my favourite, but the fabric is beautiful, so I decided I needed to rescue this top.

I unpicked it, which is no mean feat with perfectly matching thread, and set about recutting it. It’s not just a question of reducing the length, the back has a grown on waistband, so planning was required.

This is the only in progress shot I took and you can see how much I shortened it by the soap line.

I didn’t go back to the original length, instead striking a sort of happy medium, but in reality I could easily have taken a few more centimetres off – there’s still time!

Even though the top is longer, it seems to sit much better because I made the waistband a little longer, which reduced the gathers and allowed it to drop onto my hips. It still has the curved shape, though.

I’m also pleased with the way the orange silk looks on the inside hem.

I also lengthened the elastic in the back waistband which means it no longer sits as tightly into my body, but I decided that was a good thing, as the blouson at the back isn’t as extreme.

These photos were taken while I was trying to rid Pepper of some excess energy. We had to run across the park a few times, which used up most of mine!

I wasn’t sure how easy this skirt would be to make but the instructions really are excellent. The split isn’t too extreme, no flashing occurred, although legs can be seen, but no more than you’d see in a pair of shorts. I wasn’t careful with how i sat, I just parked myself, so I’m sure the skirt could be arranged more modestly if required.

I decided against topstitching in a contrasting colour, I’m not sure why as I enjoy topstitching. I just used the triple stitch in a matching colour and I’m happy with this.

I’ve. now worn the skirt several times and I am happier and happier with it. The fit is perfect and I love the slightly unusual styling. I will wear this through winter with tights and boots and I can imagine that it will become a favourite skirt for when I don’t want to wear trousers.

If you want to see makes from other patterns in this edition check out Fibremood Link Party.