An Encore in Teal

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I made ANOTHER knit dress.

It was inevitable after such hard won success with my first one.

Moneta No. 2

Many other sewists have made the Moneta dress and repeated the experience. Well, give me a baton. I’m joining the parade.

Moneta No. 2

This version of Moneta is in a teal stretch jersey that was too lightweight on its own for winter, so I underlined it with self-fabric. A fancy way of saying I doubled the fabric to make it heavier weight.

Moneta No. 2

But that shit was no fun. It took way too much time to double cut, match and pin all of the pattern pieces. My convertible overlocker was a beast about serging all of those layers, but when it came time to coverstitch the hem…we had us some struggles.

Moneta No. 2

If I had to do it again, I’d baste the hem before coverstitching to stabilize it. Fusible hem tape wouldn’t work so well with all of the stretch and double layers of fabric, so the added steps of hand or machine basting and later removing it are worth the spared heartache of a wavy hem.

A situation I have chosen to live with on this dress. Because after number two, there’s always number three.

IMG_8316

The original instructions have you clumsily sewing in clear elastic to give the waistline enough stretch to pull over your shoulders. Since my local Joann’s has been out of clear elastic for months, I used the regular stuff on this Moneta and its predecessor.

Basting the elastic to the waistline was madness the first time, so for this second dress, I gathered the waist manually, sewed a wider seam allowance and used it as a casing to insert the 1/4″ elastic.

A much better sewing experience.

Moneta No. 2

I understand the knit dressmaking addiction I’ve been reading about on other blogs. The jones I have for the next fix (perhaps a collar or some color blocking for round three) is strong.

In the meantime, this DIY double knit teal Moneta will entertain me with its bright and cozy ways.

9 thoughts on “An Encore in Teal”

    • Thanks! I’ve been on the hunt for more teal now that folks keep saying it works for me. Though, making a double knit took too long. Hoping to find a nice, medium weight ponte in teal for another knit dress.

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  4. Both of your Moneta dresses are gorgeous! And inspiring because I am about to sew my first one. I have sewn with knits before (two Renfrews), and those were pretty easy, so I was thinking the Moneta would be as well. I wasn’t even going to do a muslin, but now you have me thinking twice about that. I would also love to know more about the way you installed your clear elastic on this one. It sounds intriguing!

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    • Hi, Lilly. Thanks for the note. If you fit your Renfrews without alterations, you shouldn’t have a problem with the Moneta. Because I’m short AND curvy, I ALWAYS make a muslin or wearable muslin. Patterns aren’t typically drafted for my proportions. You will probably be fine sewing without one, though I would test fit the waistline position and underarm /side seams with basting before permanently sewing them in.

      As for the elastic waist, ignore the casing method I used on the teal dress. I was being lazy about practicing the shirring technique in the pattern instructions and opted to manually gather the waist to the bodice, and stitch two seams spaced apart wide enough to insert 1/4″ elastic (regular not clear) in the seam allowance. I didn’t get the fullness I wanted out manually gathering. I suspect that’s because knits don’t gather so well without help from elastic. So, stick with the original instructions, read through the Colette sewalong, and make your first one out of inexpensive fabric.

      With any luck, you’ll love your Moneta without having to hack it into submission like I did.

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  5. Pingback: A Makeover for Moneta | Wanna Be Sewing Something

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