Obviously a crown is a necessity at a party
As far as I’m concerned, there ain’t no party like a Moneta party. This fantastically fun Instagram escapade was the brain child of the Triple Stitchers (Elle, Rach and Abi) and was the perfect opportunity to make a new Moneta (not that I need a lot of encouraging….).
But what to make for the party?
How can you not jump for joy in a former Italian abbey?
It’s no secret that I love Moneta, and it’s quickly become a regular sew, especially since I discovered that I can get a dress out of just one metre of fabric with a bit of wiggling. So it was no surprise that when I spotted some polka dot fabric on a trip to the rag market hosted by Rach that I quickly snapped some up ready for a light and breezy summer dress.
What is it?
A sleeveless jersey dress with a fitted bodice and gathered skirt
Is it blue?
Yup yup yup!
What’s the fabric and where’s it from?
A thin lightweight jersey from an outdoor stall at the rag market; it was a bargain too, costing only £1.50!
What’s the pattern?
The Colette Moneta (again!)
Seriously, the view from this place was amazing!
What was good about making this?
As ever just the speed at which I could get it sewn up was a delight
What was bad about making this?
The fabric was printed ever so slightly squiffy which meant cutting out pieces so that they would line up was a bit of a nightmare. Luckily it’s nothing that couldn’t be sorted with a quick application of some scissors!
Would you make it again?
I wouldn’t say never, although now that we’re moving into autumn I might look to make a few more sleeved versions of the dress. That said, I have a freaking huge list of to-be-mades at the moment so unless it’s a truly truly fabulous print I think it’ll be a while before I make another.
x
There are a couple of different things you can take from my expression here; the fact that I managed to get a(nother) Moneta out of a metre of fabric, amazement at how swooshy it is, delight with the mix of colours. I think the main thing though is the appreciation that despite having what can only be described as a horrendous hangover (may have had a sherbet too many…) I managed to not only navigate the rag market but I scored this fab jersey for the princely sum of £1.50.
What is it?
A(nother) Moneta with a Peter Pan collar and slightly longer than usual skirt.
Is it blue?
Some of the flowers are. But some of them are copper coloured. And some of it is white. Let’s go with multicoloured?
What’s the fabric and where’s it from?
A ponte roma that I got from a stall in the outside section of the rag market. I nearly fell over when they told me the price.
What’s the pattern?
That old favourite I know so well
What was good about making this?
Pattern placement for the collar was really satisfying, and there’s something very smugness inducing about getting a dress out of a metre of fabric.
What was bad about making this?
I don’t know why but for some reason my sewing machine and overlocker weren’t enamoured with this fabric and both had weird puckering. It wasn’t too much of a hardship but it was a bit annoying.
Would you make it again?
It’s no secret that I have a love affair with a particular jersey dress pattern and this is the next in a long and continuing line of dress.
What is it?
A sleeveless jersey shift dress with a gathered skirt
Is it blue?
Yes, in a teal / turquoise kind of way
What’s the fabric and where is it from?
The fabric is a fabulous ponte that originally came from Girl Charlee fabrics, although I was gifted it by the lovely Caroline at SewBrum
What’s the pattern?
Colette’s Moneta dress, this time the sleeveless version. I also altered the skirt as the pattern pieces wouldn’t fit on the fabric I had.
What was good about making this?
I got the dress out of a metre of fabric! A bit of clever folding and the aforementioned skirt adaption fixed meant I could stretch fabric as I’d never stretched it before (but not literally!). It also has a really bold print which meant pattern matching was a piece of cake.
What was bad about making this?
I don’t really like the gathering method used in the pattern instructions, so thought I’d try something different. Which didn’t then work. So I had to use the usually method after all. On the plus side thought, following a conversation with Elle at Laura Loves Pugs I discovered that if you make more markings on the elastic than required it’s about 60 times easier and makes for far neater gathers. Hurrah!
Would you make it again?
Just try and stop me!
x
It’s taken a while. but finally, with this post, I’m up to date on my pre-Christmas sewing, and it will come as no surprise that when I decided I wanted to sew a dress for New Year’s Eve I decided to combine two of my favourite things; shiny things and swooshy dresses!
What is it?
A Moneta jersey dress with three quarter sleeves and the peter pan collar hack
Is it blue?
No
What’s the pattern?
Moneta by Colette (definitely becoming a favourite, especially now I’ve got a peter pan hack!)
Where’s the fabric from?
One of the shops in Walthamstow. The man who sold it to me was a fabulous geezer and as I said in the Astoria post, everything in there was £5 a metre or less!
What was good about making this?
As ever with Moneta, it came together quickly and easily, and it was good to try out a collar hack. I was still pleased with the gold topstitching I trialled on the Astoria, but, most importantly I got to use my overlocker!
What was bad about making this?
Having to wait so long to use the overlocker. Seriously, it arrived here mid December, but due to Christmas rules, I wasn’t allowed to get it out of the box until I came back from my parents’ house. Pretty testing times. I mean, look how excited I was when it arrived:
Would you make it again?
I have a feeling that yes, this won’t be the last time a Moneta appears on this blog!
One final photo for you all; I got the boy to take a couple to try and get the dress in its best light, but my absolute favourite photo (bar the one of the two of us being silly) was the out take!
x
I’ll be upfront. I’m not about to hand over a box of Milk Tray to every reader. However, don’t you agree that my new dress is very Cadbury purple? Particularly as, for reasons beyond my ken, the camera appears to have over exposed in the background.
I digress…
What is it?
A lovely swingy swooshy jersey dress
Is it blue?
No, Cadbury purple (which I guess could be argued at blue if you get that far round the spectrum?)
What’s the fabric?
Purple jersey that I picked up during SewBrum
What’s the pattern?
Moneta by Colette, using the 3/4 sleeves option
Where’s the fabric from?
The infamous Rag Market in Birmingham
What was good about making this?
How quickly it came together! I sat down at 3pm on Saturday and by 5:30pm I had a dress that was ready to wear out to dinner with friends (if we ignore the fact that I was lazy and didn’t hem the skirt until the Sunday….).
What was bad about making this?
Although I’ve made the Moneta before, this is the first time I’ve done it on my own machine and also the first time I’ve sewn jersey on my machine. It was fine for the most, but there were a couple of ‘oh yes, that’s how you do it’ with the shirred waistband as well as a ‘why won’t you work?!’ when using the twin needles on the hem (along with a note to self to read the instruction manual before doing twin needle sewing again….)
Would you make it again?
Yup, I’ve already got the fabric to make it up for my dress for New Year’s Eve. I think that next time I’ll add the collar back in as I’ve realised I really like the collar, although I might use one of the add-on hacks you get when buying the pattern (let’s not kid ourselves, it’s going to be the Peter Pan collar because I’m a sucker for a PPC).
So yes, all in all a delightful quick project, which was especially welcome as it feels like a long time since I’ve actually made anything! Now I just need to tackle a slightly longer-than-I-have-time-for list of things to complete before Christmas…. Wish me luck!
x
What is it?
A sleeveless jersey knit dress with narrow round collar
Is it blue?
No. Well it depends on whether you consider teal to be blue or green. I just think it’s teal
What’s the fabric?
Jersey knit. Possibly viscose?
What’s the pattern?
The Moneta dress by Colette Patterns.
Where’s the fabric from?
Guthrie & Ghani in Birmingham
What was good about making this?
I made this dress as part of a class at Guthrie & Ghani that focused on learning to use an overlocker. I decided to go on it as 1) I’d never really understood what an overlocker was useful for and 2) I’d never sewn with jersey before and figured this would give me some hints. The dress came together really quickly, the instructions were lovely and clear and the dress fits fantastically. It also helped having a wonderful tutor who’s approach was much more relaxed than I’ve been in the past and made me realise that you can bodge more than you’d think when you’re sewing.
What was bad about making this?
It made me want to buy an overlocker!
Would you make it again?
Absolutely, although I might begrude having to do it on my sewing machine with a jersey needle rather than a whizzy overlocker (can you tell I was sold on the benefits of them?!)