Finally! It’s time for the much anticipated Moneta party. If you don’t know what I’m talking about here’s the deal. It started with 3 lovely seamstresses: Rachel from Rach Against The Sewing Machine, Abigail from Sew Abigail and Elle from Sew Positivity, who call themselves the Triple Stitchers. They came up with the idea of an Instagram party, and that is just what it sounds like. It’s a party, on Instagram!
The idea is that everyone uses the same pattern to make the same dress, the Moneta dress from Collette patterns. The next step is to share a photo of the dress on Instagram between Friday the 24th and Sunday the 26th of February. Of course it’s fun to see everyone’s makes and using the hash tag #MonetaParty makes that possible.
When I found out about this a couple of weeks ago I was immediately excited. I already made a version of this pattern a few years ago and it’s one of my favourite summer dresses.
My first Moneta dress from Collette patterns, with fabric from Guthrie and Ghani.
I decided to go for a warmer version this time around. The fabric is a cozy sweatshirt knit I bought in the Cloth House in London. As it’s still quite chilly in Aberdeen I made my sleeves extra long and I went for a midi length.
FABRIC // Black sweatshirt knit from the Cloth House in London.
SIZING AND CUTTING // I originally traced a size S. The armholes and sleeves were a bit too big on my first version, as you can see in the first picture of this post. So I adjusted my armhole on the bodice and I made my sleeve a bit smaller. I also added length to my sleeves and skirt. After I cut all my pieces out I realised that the wrong side of the fabric was white and it looked quite nice too. So after a lot of deliberation I stitched the top of my dress the ‘wrong’ side around and made my dress two-tone.
STITCHING // When you’re used to stitching with knitted fabrics this dress is a really quick sew. The trickiest technique is gathering the skirt with clear elastic. Abigail wrote a really helpful post about it here.
FITTING AND ALTERATIONS // The first thing you sew together is the bodice and it’s always a good idea to try something on in between the steps. I tried it on after I set in the sleeves and I was really pleased with the fit. Because I had already made alterations on my pattern, I didn’t have to alter the actual garment. It wasn’t necessary to try on the skirt, as it will be gathered to fit the bodice anyway.
VERDICT // As always, Collette patterns are stylish and come with great instructions, which make this dress super fun to make. The alterations worked really well and I’m happy with the fit, the dress is hugging my body but isn’t too tight. This outfit is so comfy I just want to wear it every day.
NEXT TIME // As I’m really pleased with the fit, I don’t have to change anything more on the pattern. I would just like to make a sleeveless version next. Maybe in a nice lightweight flowery jersey for summer.
I don’t know about you but I have been searching #Monetaparty since the minute the party started. There are some amazing stitchers out there! I would definitely recommend having a look for yourself.
Okay, I’m off to join the party again. Till next time!
Barbara