I am such a fan of my first Moneta dress that I decided to make another from some fabric that I’ve had in my stash for a while. I bought the fabric, as I so often do, on a whim when Knitwit was having a sale and then thought that I didn’t like it much. However, now it’s made, I do quite like it.
It is a lovely 100% cotton knit with goodish stretch and excellent recovery and I thought that this Moneta wouldn’t be quite as fitted tight. How wrong I was. I decided to lengthen the bodice a little bit as I kept seeing myself in profile in the first one looking very second trimester. Stupidly, I managed to forget how wide I am in the waist and just extended the seam line on the same angle, giving myself a lovely narrow waist of just 24″. I can shoehorn myself in, but I have heard some alarming creaks from the stitching as I drag this dress over my rather lavish lumpy bits!
I used the original collar again as I do love the way it looks both front and back.
Everything else worked out ok. I worked hard on the pattern matching and got close, but not quite perfect, which is very, very annoying. I did manage to avoid having two large circles misplaced on my chest, but this was good luck rather than good management!
I’ve really got the coverstitch on my overlocker worked out now. I can rethread the machine in under 3 minutes and have set myself a 2 minute challenge. This is a big improvement on my original 9 minutes! I used the coverstitch on the hems on the skirt and the sleeves, and when I wore this dress to a Christmas function someone actually commented on the stitching around my sleeves.
I had enough fabric left over to make a top, although an emergency dash to Knitwit was required on Saturday afternoon when I realised I’d forgotten to cut out sleeves and I had run out of fabric. Luckily they were still open. I haven’t worn the top yet, but it’s coming soon.
The details: Pattern is the Moneta by Colette Patterns, fabric is cotton knit from Knitwit, belt is made by me, shoes are Letizia from Letizia, Claremont.
Do you tie your threads together when threading your overlock machine ? I never rethread the machine, I just tie on the new color thread and pull through and rethread only the needles. I was an instructor for many years with the Levi Co and had many shortcuts for the operators. I was using fingernail polish to mark all the threading pattern on industrial machines years before they came out with the color coding.
Love the dress, I think this is a very good color for you. Its always nice to have fabric left from a project to make a little something extra !!
Hi Naomi, I don’t tie the threads together because the cones have to be moved to a different position when rethreading for the coverstitch. On the other hand I have a Babylock (bought for my birthday) so it’s all a breeze :). Thanks for the comment!
Following Naomi’s comment, I do tie threads when rethreading my serger (an old Brother machine), but sometimes the little knots get stuck in the slots and that’s hell. I’m dreaming of the Babylock. I’ve seen a demonstration in store and it looks super user-friendly, but also quite expensive. I was wondering if it was worth the price. Back to your new moneta, I do love this blue/gray shade and soft print. And these shoes! Great styling again.
Thanks Hélène. I have the Babylock Evolution which does both overlocking and coverstitching. To move from one to the other takes a complete rethread (the easy bit on a Babylock), the needles have to be moved, and there is a little part which needs replacing. I had to keep referring to the book at the beginning, but now it is quite mindless for me. I can really recommend the machine – I bought mine in Singapore and it was half the price of the machines in Australia (paid for my trip with the saving and still had money left over). Definitely worth the money!
Love everything about this dress stunning Sue
love this colour and this dress on you Sue. Colar detail at back is stylish touch!