I’ve got yet another Fibre Mood make for you today (sorry, not sorry! 😂). Today’s the turn of the Lola blouse from the latest issue.

This sleeveless blouse has a lined front “bib” with a ruffle continuing from the back all the way around. It has an open bra-friendly back which closes with ties. There’s elastic at the bottom of the back “keyhole” and the armholes are finished with a bias binding.

I’ll be honest, I wasn’t hugely bothered about this top to start off with but then I saw so many lovely versions of it on Instagram! (Yes, I’m that person that’s totally swayed by social media and advertising…). I had an idea of making a maxi dress version out of this hot pink silk taffeta I picked up from The New Craft House and making something similar to this dress Gemma Chan wore to the Oscars.

So maybe not quite this extravagant – I’m aiming for an everyday version! 😂. Because it’s silk (and a bit pricey), I wanted to do a practice run before cutting into anything!

I thought I’d try just making the top first to see if it would work for what I wanted to do. It helped that I had a piece of floral cotton gauze I’d recently bought from Minerva that I thought would be perfect for a little top!

I made a straight size 42 with no adjustments and followed the picture instructions in the magazine.

Firstly, I have to say I really liked the construction of this top. It was fun to sew and came together really, really well. On that front I can truly recommend it!

On the converse side of things I actually don’t like this top on me. Before anyone says anything, I know technically it looks fine (this is very much a personal hang up) but I hate how my arms look in it!

The fit itself is decent and even the open back sits pretty well – though if you want to be picky about things I could’ve done a small adjustment to the upper centre back panels for a closer fit. I just know I feel a bit uncomfortable in it, enough that it’ll stop me from wearing it, I’m afraid.

It’s a shame because I had such high hopes for it and I know there are so many incredible versions out there! I think this’ll always be one that just isn’t quite for me!