Moneta No. 2

Hello, all. I've really got the sewing bug at the moment! During the past week I have been squirrelling away working on my second Colette Moneta dress.

The fabric I have used is a royal blue jersey knit that I bought at the same time as the black stripy jersey I used for my first Moneta. The fabric is lovely and silky with just the right amount of stretch. I decided this time to make version three with elbow length sleeves.

Following on from my first Moneta dress I made some changes to the fit. The problem with my first version is that it is was too wide for my shoulders. This means the shoulders slip off and there is excess fabric around the neckline.  Not a great look. I found instructions on how to adjust for narrow shoulders in a book called Dressmaking by Alison Smith.

I didn't really want to start cutting up my beautiful Colette pattern and I couldn't be bothered to trace out two new pattern pieces. What I did was fold a dart into the front and back bodice at the neckline before cutting. I measured the width of the top of the fold and the length and position to compare the front and the back.

It worked!

I am much happier with the fit of the bodice. The shoulders fit properly without slipping off and it is much more comfortable to wear. Whilst I have made some improvements, it's still not a perfect fit just yet - there seems to be some bagging around the sleeves. I think I actually prefer the short sleeved version of this dress.

I wanted to try my overlocking foot out on the my new machine. I sampled several different stitches on scrap fabric and also tested my twin needle. In the end I went for the basic overlocking stitch, set to the largest width and length settings, to sew seams and finish the edges at the same time.

I haven't yet managed to get the topstitching quite correct. For some reason I keep getting skipped stitches. I'm also having some tension issues with the new machine, if I lower the tension it skips loads or if I increase it I end up with a raised channel between the stitches. I did manage to hem the neckline and sleeves using my twin needle but struggled when testing for the hem. In the end I accepted a temporary defeat and hemmed the skirt using a zig zag stitch. It doesn't look anywhere near as good as hemming with a twin needle but it's ok for now!

The gathering was also easier the second time around - you can see in this photo it's much more even than my previous attempt. I followed the Moneta Sewalong on the Colette Blog, but actually divided the elastic into eighths and matched to the notches on the skirt. This made it so much easier to get the elastic stretched evenly. Only one mishap, where I somehow managed to stretch the elastic so much is snapped!! Oops!

I've definitely enjoyed making both my Moneta dresses. I have become much more confident in sewing with knit fabric and even have plans to try some t-shirts to add to my wardrobe. I'd also like to try the sleeveless Moneta dress, although the lining scares me slightly!! 

And here's a little sneaky peak of my five new nail polishes ...

... may have gone a bit overboard but the colours are gorgeous!! 

What is on your sewing table at the moment?