Sooo I definitely meant to make this dress to wear on my Florida vacation. You know, the one that happened over a month ago. Oh well – better late than never? At least I’ll be prepared for the next vacation!
This is the Moneta dress, from Colette patterns. Sarai sent me the pdf of this pattern right around the same time she asked if I’d like to review the Colette Guide to Sewing Knits. I had already purchased the book at that point, so she gave me the two newest Colette patterns as a freeb. Woohoo! So yeah, I’ve been waiting to make this up for a while, but I think it’s worth the wait – wouldn’t you agree?
Moneta is a very very simple dress. Sewn up in a knit, it’s a basic bodice with a slightly gathered skirt, pockets, and a few options as far as necklines/collars/sleeves. I went with the simplest version – no sleeves, no pockets – for my first test run.
I’ll admit, I wasn’t terribly keen on the gathered skirt as I tend to hate the way they look on me, especially when sewn up in a knit. However, I kept seeing Devon’s Monetas that she was plastering all over her blog, and they are all pretty freaking flattering on her – even with the gathering. My fabric is also lightweight and drapey, so that helps with keeping the gathering from getting too bulky. The lack of pockets also helps (am I the only one who thinks pockets in a knit are freaking useless? They’re useless.).
Cutting this fabric wasn’t necessarily tricky, but it did take some forethought to make sure the stripes all matched up right. After making the Out & About Dress, I was (and still am, to some extent) super butthurt about the way the stripes look on the skirt. These sorts of curved, gathered skirts don’t work too well with horizontal stripes, but I was bound and determined to make it happen this time. Plus, the match up on the side seams – all the way! Yeah! I love it when that happens.
Part of what made cutting tricky was that I wanted to self-line the bodice. I didn’t have anything on hand that would be a suitable lining, other than the main fabric I was using (and while I don’t really care much for lined knits, I certainly wanted to try it out!), so I decided to go with that. The one drawback to using my striped fabric is that it is slightly sheer, so the stripes would show through and look weird. I cut the bodice pieces so they 100% mirrored each other – with each stripe color matching what was underneath, so they wouldn’t show through. I think it worked out pretty well. Also, I’m totally a lined knit bodice convert, at least in fabric this lightweight – it’s a very clean finish (all seams are inside the lining, woohoo), and it gives this drapey fabric a good bit of heft so the skirt isn’t stretching it out over the course of the day.
I made the size XS, with no alterations – although I guess I did shorten the skirt. The back is a little wide, but it doesn’t look bad so I’m not bothered by it.
There were a few firsts for me while making this dress! One, the aforementioned lined bodice – which I’d never done before on a knit, but it’s kind of a neat party trick how everything ends up on the inside. The instructions don’t tell you how to finish the neckline – just the arm holes (this lined version is intended to be worn with a collar, which I omitted. The other versions aren’t lined and just have you turn the neckline under and hem). After a bit of thinking, I figured out that they can be finished the same way as the arm holes. It’s a little tricky, but it works out quite nicely!
Also, the skirt is gathered with clear elastic before it’s actually sewn to the bodice. I actually thought that trick was pretty cool, because it means you get the elastic and gathering done in one fell swoop (without using basting stitches to gather, blech) and the elastic adds a nice support to the waistline, which, again, is important if you’re using a lightweight fabric that might try to stretch out if you don’t set some clear boundaries first.
Here it is without the belt. Man, this fabric! I bought this stuff while I was in NYC earlier this year – I think it’s from Fabrics for Less (I think?). It was very very cheap – like $5 a yard cheap – and the quality isn’t so great. It’s very lightweight, feels like there’s a lot of polyester in it, and it looks like it’ll start pilling soon. But, you know, sometimes we make stuff that isn’t meant to be an heirloom. Sometimes you just want a stripey dress because you saw Taylor Swift wearing one and, while you can’t stand that woman, you gotta admit that she has some cuuuute dresses. So there’s that.
The only thing I didn’t like about this pattern is that taping the PDF together was a bit of a nightmare. There are a shitload of pages, which results in a pretty big taped-up piece once it’s all assembled. What really bothered me is that a significant chunk of the pages were for the plus size block – and I dunno, it just felt wasteful to print them out and then immediately throw them away (not to mention, I’m a freak who had to tape them together first WHY). I’m not sure what the solution is to this – maybe have an option for printing either of the bodice blocks separately, so you can choose which one you want? If they were nested together, it would make more sense, but they were two separate blocks – plus the collar pieces had their own block too. Of course, I could look at the layout and decide beforehand which pages to print, but I never think that far in advance. Also, don’t tell me what to do.
As you can see, at this point I started getting bored with taking photos. But hey, check out that stripe-matching!
I also really love how navy my hair looks in these photos! Right after I dyed it, it was definitely this strange and exciting shade of neon electrical purple – which was cool, but it wasn’t exactly what I wanted. After a wash, the color faded just a smidge and now it’s straddling the line between navy and dark purple. I love it!
I definitely want to make more of this dress – I want to try it with sleeves, I want to try some of the downloadable collar options, and I want to experiment with swapping out that skirt. Oh, and I want to make some bodices into cropped sweaters. So many options here, people.
Here’s the gathered elastic waistband. Not too shabby!
And the twin-needled hem, which my machine fought valiantly with this particular fabric. As you can see, though, I won.
So, I guess it should be said that this particular pattern isn’t necessarily anything mind-bendingly different from many of the other knit dress patterns out there. And that’s fine – it’s a bodice and a skirt (and sleeves, if you want them), there’s not a whole lot you can variate from. Of all the knit dresses I’ve sewn (this, the aforementioned Out & About, and my beloved Lady Skater), the differences are subtle – a change in neckline, a different skirt, etc. While I personally love trying new patterns every single time (which is obviously easier when someone, you know, sends you the pattern gratis), I can totally understand being on a budget and/or not wanting to reinvent the wheel fitting-wise and needing to stick with one pattern that you make changes to. For what it’s worth – compared to my other knit dresses – he neckline on Moneta is more of boat than a scoop neck, the skirt is gathered, and I think the bodice is a little more hourglass-shaped. Also, the techniques used to put this dress together make it slightly more complicated than other knit patterns I’ve personally tried (again, lining, clear elastic, etc).
Oh, and I also made a Briar tshirt with the remaining yardage, complete with one of the most beautiful knit bindings I have ever done.
I’m so happy I finally have my striped dream dress, yay! Love this pattern and I can’t wait to experiment more with different variations. And just a head’s up to the rest of y’all – but there’s a whole Sewalong for this dress, if you need the hand-holding. It’s actually being taught by Devon, so you know that shit is gonna be ace.
LLADYBIRD 
I love this dress! You look so happy in it, and it fits you REALLY well – great job! Impressive stripe matching, too – that’s always something that drives me mad in RTW. Won’t touch it! Looks like a great pattern that I’ll have to look into 🙂
Oh, I know what you mean! Hate mismatched stripes in RTW, it makes me so irrationally angry haha!
You know what would be great? Combining the Moneta top with the Mabel bottom for a more fitted look. I lack the skills but I’d love to see someone more clever than I (ahem, you?) give it a shot.
Dammit, I started reading this comment and thought, “Nope, not gonna do that, that’s soo not my style” and by the time I’d finished I was more along the lines of, “Well… ok, that would actually be really cute.” I’m a little intrigued and OOH I THINK I HAVE THE PERFECT FABRIC TOO OMG.
Bwahahahahaha. I have planted a seed. I keep thinking it would be cute with the longer skirt (V3) and a thik fabric to make it work appropriate. But I wouldn’t know where to start (do I sound like I am begging? Hehe I am).
INCEPTION
DO IT. I did it and it is amazing! Highly recommend!
I’m totally with you on the pockets-in-knits-are-shit idea. I put them in my first Tiramisu and they just flop around and add bulk to the widest part of my hips. Ugh. I’ve left them off each subsequent version and my Moneta. Although I’m planning to try the in-waist, zippered version in when I make up Cake Red Velvet.
And I totally want to graft Mabel onto the Moneta bodice…and then compare to the Nettie dress… 🙂 Sewing rocks!
Sewing does rock! 🙂
I am loving your hair!!! Also, pockets in knits are a waist because if you put something in them they just sag and look lumpy.
Waste not waist. Blergh.
Exactly! Knit pockets are so lame haha!
When can I see you? You need to see this hair in PERSON!
So cute, Lauren! The matchy stripes look incredible.
I wanted to mention about the neckline, you can actually just sew it in a circle with right sides together, then turn inside out and do the armhole trick. I mentioned it in the “how to clean finish a lined armhole” tutorial on my blog if anyone else decides to check that out and wants to omit the collar.
PS: I used to have navy hair and it’s still my favorite hair color I’ve had to date. It’s so flattering & looks awesome on you here.
Sarai herself! What do you think about a Moneta/Mabel hybrid? 😀
Hey Lauren!! I’m so glad you posted this today!! I finished up a sleeveless bodice last night, and wanted to ask you if you had trouble serging over the armholes close to each seam, since you’d already closed up the neckline? I didn’t have trouble sewing the armholes, except when I got close to the shoulder and bodice side seams cause it seemed like the neckline being closed was keeping it from staying loose (make sense?). Anyway, just wanted to check with you on that!! It looks like it turned out fine but I’m wondering if it stretched out at all since I was kind of struggling with those curves (haven’t tried it on yet since I haven’t attached the skirt). Also, I took Sarai’s suggestion of sewing the neckline in one fail swoop and worked out great! 🙂
Ooh, you’re so right about that neckline finish! I remember seeing the post you’re talking about, but I didn’t think about it when I was assembling the bodice (and, now that I really think about it, I actually finished the arm holes before anything else so it probably wouldn’t have helped me anyway haha. But good for everyone else’s reference!).
Also, I would love to see you with navy hair. I bet it was really beautiful on you!
Sarai also has a great sew-along for this dress at http://www.sewalongs.com
i love this (and your hair!) i have been looking for the perfect striped knit for this and i am totally going to stalk you on this make. i really like the moneta for the boat neck – i think it makes it a bit different from the usual scoop necks you find on knits (altho i love all the collar options!).
That’s what I thought – I love the look of the boat neck, and you don’t see that too often in knits! And all the collar options are great!
matching stripes on outside + matching stripes on inside + matching hair to stripes = WIN
Matchy matchy all up in here! 😀
Does your band-aid have Jesus on it?
Indeed it does haha
You did a great job on the Moneta dress. Marvelous fit.
Thank you!
Good call on removing the pockets, I tried to make this with the pockets and ended up removing them because the bulk they added was just ridiculous. I also don’t care for gathered waists, so I actually redrafted an A-line skirt and after comparing my self drafted skirt to the one that came with the dress, it looks like I could have just removed the ease across the waist and redrew the side seam, so it’s a fairly simple adjustment, and I was very happy with the result. That aside, I love the fabric you used, even if it is low quality.
I was thinking about swapping the skirt out for a more flared skirt (like on the Lady Skater) for a future version; I like the gathers but I probably won’t like them in a thicker fabric. Glad to know I wasn’t overreacting with my pocket hate haha
This is adorable! Don’t you hate it when you have a moment of sewing wizardry, like make perfect bindings, but you did the whole thing in shitty fabric and you know it’s just going to pill after a few washings?! I freaking hate that. Anyways, nice job on the dress and shirt, both are gorgeous and fingers crossed they won’t pill at all.
Haha yeah, it’s annoying – but at least I got some good practice! 😀 That’s what I tell myself 😛
Great dress and it looks so good with your hair, I love it!
Thank you! I feel like a sweet lil American Flag haha 🙂
Love it! It’s the perfect dress to bring on vacation, or to just wear anytime, anywhere! Here’s hoping the fabric holds up…
It really is! It goes with a whole crapload of my closet, and the fabric doesn’t wrinkle… plus, I can eat a LOT in it (it’s a knit, after all!). I reckon if the fabric dies, I’ll just make another one HAHA!
Um, so, I recently (two days ago) perfectly matched up a striped top. Only to have some looseness in the back. I literally growled when I found the problem. And my knit stripe was inexpensive. And might have more polyester than the 70s. Sigh!!! So then your post. Maybe I’m overreacting. I think I need a sewing shrink to deal with these issues. LIke totally going through the stages of grief. Today, I’m at Acceptance. All because of you. Thanks for that~~ Oh, and Taylor Swift is evil/ I sing along to her songs when alone. Ok. Toodles.
Hahah I totally know what you mean – sewing and fitting has made me quite a monster about how stuff fits now! At least you know now for future shirts to tweak, yeah? 🙂 And arghhh don’t even get me started on Taylor Swift! Cannot STAND her hahahaa!
Love it – this and Mary from Idle Fancy’s new dress makes me want to hunt all the local shops for stripes (unfortunately our knit selection isn’t great, though, and the most you’ll find is super skinny stripes).
For what it’s worth – for some reason the pockets in this dress DO work. I’ve done pockets on knits before and they were awful (*cough* Tiramisu *cough*) but in both my Moneta’s I don’t think they add bulk to my already wide hips, I guess because the gathers hide them?
Oh yeah, most of the stripes here aren’t that great a selection either. I get all my stripes in the ~big city~ lol. Or online!
That’s good to know about the pockets! I’m still not a fan of knit pockets, but now I’m intrigued haha
Both pieces are so cute and I love how many versions you’ve noted that you can make in the future! I’ll be waiting to see what you come up with!!!
Oh yeah! This might be a TNT for me 😉
So so so cute! You have such patience with stripe matching it’s insane. The gathered skirt is not unflattering on you at all!
It helps that the fabric weight is really light 🙂 But yeah, thank you! 🙂
I found several issues with the Moneta that other readers might like to know before they make it.
First, the armscyes are disproportionately large if you make the version with the sleeves; mine ended up looking quite batwing-ish and not at all neat/trim. Second, I made the 3/4 sleeve version (it’s winter in the southern hemisphere!) but the sleeves were really only 1/2 sleeves, which was a disappointment.
Third, the skirt fullness was (for me) over-the-top, so I reduced the skirt width by a whole 30cm (1 foot) and still had enough left for gathers (I guess this is a matter of taste). Fourth, the bodice is crazy short and I had to add 8 cm (3 inches) so it would hit at my natural waist (I get that I’m long-waisted, but the bodice length is teeny).
Finally, I thought the standard “turn over and hem the neckline at 3/8 inch” was a bit half-hearted from a professional pattern maker, but the collar variations were all a bit frou-frou for me – I’m not a fan of Peter Pan collars/big bows! So I subbed in a neck band from Maria Denmark’s free Kirsten Kimono Tee pattern.
I’m not saying it’s a bad pattern, but if I make it again I will be changing quite a few things.
Sorry to hear you didn’t have a great first experience with the Moneta! That’s crazy that you were able to take out so much width from the skirt and still have enough to gather – do you mind my asking what size you made? Because I definitely didn’t have too much ease for my gathering!
As far as the bodice length and neckline- I don’t think the bodice is supposed to quite hit your natural waist, maybe a little above. That’s how it looks to me in the photos, anyway. If you’re long waisted, that would make sense that you had to add more length (as you mentioned!). With the neckline being a boatneck, it’s hard to add a band without affecting the shape. I’m not a pattermaker, so I could be talking out of my ass here – but most knit boatnecks I see in RTW are either turned under, bound (with an actual bound seam, not a knit band) or have a facing. Just a thought!
Anyway, thank you for sharing your experience, as I’m sure that people reading the comments will definitely find your notes helpful if they are having the same problem 🙂
Hi from a sometimes lurker- lurker only because our office server won’t let me comment! First of all, I have to say your dress is amazing – that stripe matching rocks!
Re the comment by Vanessa, it just goes to show how different pattern houses fit different people – I made my first sort of moneta out of a failed lady skater. I used high bust and natural exist, and it SAS enormous. The elbow length sleeves were like batwings with huge afmholes – And I don’t have narrow shoulders or thin arms – the bodice was incredibly long and wide…. disaster. My moneta and just arrived so I took my bodice which had the neckband and sleeves attached, but had been basted at side and sleeve seams, and used it to doctor the fail – chopped off a good 3 inches from length, inches from the sides and arm hike depth – and it’s great. I had cut the lady skater skirt and used that, and it looks very cute – nice hack even though it wasn’t meant to be.
Now I just finished a proper, by the pattern moneta- Well, sort of, as I didn’t line the bodice since I made the short sleeve version – and I added the peter pan collar in a coordinating woven. Same knit, a cotton ITY with good recovery. Perfect fit, nice high armholes, and even though it’s ITY and thus not that thin, the gathered skirt looks great on my somewhat hippy figure – not too full.
I do think the cover sleeve drawings are somewhat deceptive – the short sleeve looks like an elbow length whereas it’s almost a cap.
Vanessa – are you sure you didn’t cut a size big?
I am sightly short waisted but not so much that I ever ddjust patterns – I just take a slightly higher seam.
Oh – and I made the short sleeved version, with a calf length skirt, out of just 2 metres. By not folding the fabric in half – first I folded in enough for the skirt, then from the other side I cut the bodice and sleeves. No pointless pockets of course;)
I love your blog Lauren. Not just the creations and the fabulous hair, but your genuineness. And I adore the vogue snarkfests:)
Oh my god I am just seeing all the weird mistakes in my above – bloody android correcting me… I used my high natural waist for the lady skater, I mean.
No worries, that’s like every time I try to write something via my phone 🙂 Auto correct is HILARIOUS!
Thanks so much for your input, by the way! Much appreciated 🙂
I love this version! I’m with you about the pockets… in my first two versions they were terrible, although in my second one I ended up tacking them to the front of the skirt and now they lie flat. In my third one (sewn in a less drapey knit), I think they actually worked. I had to spend a long time ironing them so that they wouldn’t gape, though. I think next time I’ll leave them out, or substitute patch pockets that I could line in a woven to prevent stretching. Oh and I love your hair!
What a cute dress!!! Great job! I really love knit dresses, but I am afraid to sew one without a serger… Quick question. Matching plaid or stripes gives me such anxiety that I have literally never purchased any fabric of either. I seem to recall a tutorial on matching stripes and plaid somewhere. Was that you? If not, how do you manage a consistent result most of the time? I think this is the year I conquer both of these fear!
I posted a tutorial on matching plaids (and stripes!) 🙂 Here it is! The general gist: I cut everything on a single layer, and I match the seams as I cut each piece. It takes extra time, but everything always matches up 🙂 And yes, you should conquer those fears – stripes and knits (and striped knits!) rule!!
The dress is super cute! Thanks for the tip about self-lining the bodice – I have never done that with knits, but it makes so much sense!
WOW! Dress looks amazing with your hair!
This is a lovely dress! Casual and fun. Love the blue hair! And I like the way you have all your scissors on a handy rack in your work room. I’m always mislaying mine! Cool idea.
Oh yeah, I was forever losing mine too, so now they hang 🙂
Cute!
Also, I’m totally with you on pockets in knit dresses being pointless. Worse than pointless in many cases I reckon, as they also spoil the line of the garment. Never really understood why you’d bother, but hey….
Another amazing garment! I have nominated you for The Versatile Blogger Award (please see my blog for more info). Congratulations!
Aw, thank you! ♥
Your striped dress is so cute and nautical! I like Moneta better than other knit dresses (fits me well and I’m just not a skater skirt fan), but I definitely agree that people can probably get away with just one or two of whichever knit dress patterns they like best… and I’m sooo with you on knit pockets, what is the point?
I wanted to throw it out there, I just finished a knit dress similar to the Moneta, and I added in-seam pockets made from a quilting cotton. They are amazing! They’re lightweight, don’t sag/stretch out and generally stay in place. Just make sure you use a fabric of a similar color in case your fashion fabric is sheer, and remember to finish the edges of the pocket bags.
I’ve heard of using woven to do knit pockets, and I’d totally like to try it because it sounds really intriguing! Good to know it works with this particular pattern 🙂
I’m not sure if it’s a comment on how long my hair has been candy coloured, or about how much anime I watch, but until you mentioned it I hadn’t even considered that there was anything unusual about your hair. You mean it’s not a natural blue? 😛
That dress is super cute on you, love the stripes and the stripe/hair matching 🙂
This looks great. Love the stripes. I’ve been wondering though how different this would be from the Lady Skater, and I think you’ve answered that one! I guess I could always draft a boat neck for the Lady Skater!
Ahhh, I was right! Your purple is so awesome! I go on Tuesday to get mine done and I’m so excited!
The dress looks great–thanks for posting the link to the stripe/pattern matching tutorial. Maybe someday I’ll screw up enough gumption to do it–right now I’m just considering myself lucky if I can get my patterns actually on grain!
Also, i LOVE your new hair color!