After the storming success of my Kitschy Koo Lady Skater dresses I decided to try another jersey dress pattern which dominates the online sewing community: Colette Patterns' Moneta Dress. I initially hesitated whether to order this pattern, thinking it was perhaps too similar to the Lady Skater, but came to the conclusion that there are enough differences to justify purchasing both. Lady Skater has a scoop neckline with neckband and a flared skirt, whereas Moneta has a high neckline with scoop back, collar options and a gathered skirt.
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For my first version I kept it simple and went with the plain neckline and short sleeves. The fabric is a gorgeous medium weight floral jersey I ordered online from My Fabrics. I originally bought 1.5m of it with the intention of making a long sleeve top, but as soon as it arrived it demanded to become a dress.
Size wise I'm more or less a small on Colette's measurement chart. However after looking at the finished garment measurements I cut a medium, grading up to large for shoulder width and between a medium and large for the waist. My reasoning for this was that I didn't want lots of negative ease around the waist as I prefer my dresses to skim rather than cling. I also always fear that if I actually fit to my waist then the resulting dress may not fit over my big shoulders! After a quick compare with my Lady Skater pattern pieces I saw that I didn't need to lengthen the bodice but I did add 1 inch of length to the skirt.
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Other changes I made whilst sewing were adding stretchy, fusible seam tape to stabilise the neckline, using elastic to stabilise the shoulders and sewing a small, looped ribbon onto the inside of the back neckline so I can easily tell the front from the back. Although not an alteration as such I also followed Abigail's tip of adding more marks to the elastic for more control when gathering the waistline. I highly recommend her post if, like me, you've never sewn with elastic before as it removed any fear I had about working with it.
The dress ended up a bit roomy, but I always think it's better to be cautious and cut bigger for a first attempt at a pattern. Although I didn't bother unpicking the skirt to take in the waist, I did take a wedge of excess fabric out from the ribcage area to give the bodice a more flattering shape.
I really like this dress and have worn it a lot. The style, floral pattern and colours all feel very "me." I've actually read that some people aren't keen on the low back and high neckline of the Moneta and prefer to wear it the other way round. This baffles me as I love the neckline! I find the style very elegant to wear.
For my second Moneta, I added a fun tie collar. This is one of the variations which can be downloaded for free on Colette Patterns' website. I don't know why there aren't that many tie collar Moneta dresses out in the wild (from what I can see anyway) as I think it's the cutest thing ever! Combined with the polkadot fabric it gives the dress a 1950s vintage feel which I absolutely love.
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The mustard polka dot jersey is from Girl Charlee UK and part of their Bolt range. It's on the expensive side but I managed to snap some up over a Bank Holiday weekend when they had 20% off. That made it much more affordable! It's very soft and snuggly however I found it a little bit see through so I self lined the bodice. I didn't bother for the skirt as it wasn't necessary with the gathers.
In terms of construction, I deviated from instructions and sandwiched the collar between the two bodice layers so all raw edges are enclosed, grading the seams to reduce bulk, and understitching to keep everything in place. I then treated the bodice and lining layers as one for sewing everything else. I think it made a tidy enough finish.
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In terms of fit I graded back down to a size medium at the waist and transferred the bodice changes I made on my first version of scooping out about 3/8" from the underarm to the waist. It makes a more concave shape to the side seam, similar to the Lady Skater bodice shape actually, which seems to work better for my shape. I'm happier with the smaller waist on this one too, although I definitely stretched it out slightly when trying the bodice on before adding the skirt. I guess I got too excited about seeing what the collar looked like on me!
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All in all, I absolutely adore this dress and think the collar is the best thing ever. Look at it with the scoop back. Ughh, love it.
I had no idea a mustard polka dot dress was missing from my life but it clearly has been as I have enjoyed wearing it so much. I didn't think another pattern could overtake the Lady Skater dress in terms of love but Colette Patterns' Moneta has certainly won a special place in my wardrobe.
Stay tuned for more Moneta goodness. I have my Birthday Moneta to share and another one in the pipeline. It's safe to say I have been properly bitten by the sewing-with-jersey bug this year!