I've been meaning to make a Moneta since the pattern was first released, and I'm really glad that I finally got around to it. It was a great, and fairly speedy, project to make and the finished dress is so lovely and comfy to wear.
As many people have said before me, the pattern is really well drafted and the instructions are excellent. When I first started sewing with knits, I thought I'd play it safe and stick to t-shirts before I branched out into dresses, but I think that I should have given Moneta a go before. The instructions are so detailed that I think it'd be totally achievable for a knit newbie - and a dress does seem more impressive than a t-shirt doesn't it?
I sewed the dress up exactly according to the instructions and everything worked nicely. I've read some people saying that they don't like the fact that the neckline is just turned under and stitched, but I think it's fine and I always think that anything stitched with a twin needle looks quite professional anyway. I might try following one of the methods in the recent Colette tutorial on binding knit edges for a future Moneta (you know there'll be more of them!) though, just for a bit of variation if nothing else.
The only part of the sewing process that I had any trouble with was gathering the skirt, and that was just because it was physically difficult to get my clear elastic to stretch far enough rather than being anything to do with the actual sewing. I did manage it though, and it got easier as I went round the skirt, so it wouldn't be anything to put me off making another Moneta.
In terms of size, I used a medium at the bust and graded out to a large at the waist and hips. I also added 1.5 inches to the bodice length (a standard adjustment for me), and another 1.5 inches to the skirt - which has left it just slightly above knee length on me (I'm about 5 ft 9").
I'm pretty happy with the fit. It did initially gape slightly at the front neckline, but I think I might have just stretched it slightly when I was top-stitching the neckline down because a good steam seems to have made a big difference. Steaming also made a massive improvement to the hem - it was really wavy when I'd just sewn it, but it's nice and neat now.
I should probably have apologised before now for the fabric and the fact that all the tiny dots may be doing weird things to your eyes. Everything looks fine on my computer screen at the moment, but if the photos are slightly smaller the pattern does stop looking like dots and starts just looking like one big distorted mess. So sorry if that's what you're seeing!
The fabric is a cotton and spandex jersey from my fabrics. I got it when it was half price and they don't seem to have any now, but they do have lots of other pretty spotty jerseys. As I'd got the jersey for a good price, I was happy to use this as a test version because I knew I wouldn't be heartbroken if it didn't work out quite right. Luckily for me, that's not a problem I have to worry about, and I'm really happy with my Moneta.
I'll leave you with this picture of me trying, and failing, to look all nonchalant and model-like whilst sitting on a gate. In reality, I was really just desperately trying not to fall off backwards. One of these days I'll get better at posing for photos....
I'm now off to enjoy the tail end of my long weekend with chocolate and plotting of future Monetas. I hope you've had a Happy Easter!
