Sunday, April 17, 2016

M-M-M-My Moneta!

I was singing a song when I finished this dress! I love it.


I've had the Colette Moneta pattern for ages, but just hadn't got around to taping the pdf together & tracing it -- a common issue with many of my pdf patterns -- love them for accessibility, but hate them for how long it takes me to get around to tracing them. I found a great tracing material at the dollar store a few weeks back, though (it's a plant covering material that is almost identical to interfacing) and so I went crazy and traced off four pdfs in one weekend. Now I'm starting to work on them.

I'm glad I tried the Moneta first. Not only have I had the pattern for a while, I've had this gorgeous rayon knit earmarked for it for months now as well.It is an astonishingly soft and smooth fabric.


The Moneta is marked as an easy, beginner pattern. Not too many pieces, and with fairly simple techniques. All the fold under and stitch finishings are not exactly to my taste - while it worked on the sleeve and fortunately on the hem as well, with a bit of a press, folding under and stitching the neckline gave me a (sadly predictable) wavy neckline. I don't know why I thought it would save time to do it that way. 


To fix it, I measured the neckline and it was about 28" around. I certainly didn't want to enlarge it with a facing & seam, as it is already as wide as I could bear without major bra strappage going on. So I cut a neckband that was 26" by 2", and attached like a t-shirt neckband. It worked well, smoothing out the waviness of the original neckline as well as filling it in by nearly an inch. Perfection.


I love the side seam pockets and the gathered skirt. So comfortable and useful. I used the clear elastic method of gathering the skirt which Colette recommends, and I found it very easy and very convenient. No shifting around gathers while sewing to try to evenly distribute them. I even had a friend (who is not a sewist) comment on my even gathers the first time I wore it :)


This dress went together very quickly. I cut it and sewed it all on a Sunday. I had to make a few minor fitting adjustments; I cut Medium at the neck and shoulders, grading out to Large at the waist. I also pinched a 1/2" out of the centre front, as per usual on most things I make. Next time I make it I'll make a 1/2" swayback adjustment so it sits better. Otherwise this was a pretty darn good fit on the first go.


I'm enjoying my colourful Moneta, and know I'll be making another in future. This is the only Colette pattern that I've tried for which I hardly had to make any adjustments. Knits are so forgiving...and swishy!


 
 

Location: Confederation Park, Stratford. One of my favourite places, with pines and birches galore.

16 comments:

  1. Lovely dress and amazing fabric. Swishiness is always the deciding factor though :-) Trish

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    1. Indeed! Even if passersby do look at you strangely as you're swishing and leaping in the park, haha

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  2. Your Moneta looks fabulous. I really love the fabric that you have chosen to make it with. I also found the neck was a bit too large, I'm not into flashing my bra straps, so I redrafted it to come in a bit more. That seemed to work well. I liked your idea of doing a tee-shirt style neckline, it worked well.

    Debbie
    http://www.sewnfromtheheart.com

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    1. Yes, I think I'll also be redrafting the neckline for a second go - it is just a bit too wide as is for my narrower shoulders.

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  3. Lovely! The swishiness is divine :)

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  4. Beautiful fit and the fabric is gorgeous.

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    1. Thanks - the fabric is really amazing in real life - perfect stretch & recovery and just so, so soft.

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  5. Your Moneta is so lovely and swishable! I tried the clear elastic method but the elastic kept breaking, so I had to do gathering with the old fashioned method. I am glad it worked for you!

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    1. Maybe I was just lucky with the elastic method this time - I have heard that it has been a problem for many people. Whatever method works to get those gathers together is the right one :)

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  6. A lovely dress and fabric combination. Rayon knits are lovely to sew, but do stretch, so I think your neckband solution was a good one.

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    1. Yes, I should have stabilized the neckline...but oh well, the solution worked :) This fabric is just so lovely and soft!

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  7. Such a pretty dress! Love the fabric! And adding the neckband is a great idea. I think my biggest complaint about my Moneta is that the neckline just doesn't feel secure- it's so flimsy when it's just turned and stitched...

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    1. Yeah, I agree - I've said before that a turn & stitch is not my favourite neckline treatment - don't know why I didn't change it at first here! Flimsy is the perfect description of the effect.

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