Colette Moneta Review

Hello everyone!

Let me start my telling you a little secret.  Under most circumstances, I am not a dress person.  I don't know if you are shocked by that, but let me tell you why.  You see, I am a stay-at-home mom, and have been for at least 8 years now.  So as I am going about my day with my kids, I often find myself in leggings and a dressy top, or jeans and a casual or dressy top.  I rarely get the unction to put on a dress--even for parent/teacher conferences.

Well, that may change! 

I think I am becoming a dress convert!  After sewing and wearing the Colette Moneta, I am redefining how dresses fit into my wardrobe.  And better yet, I think I even like pockets, lol!!!

For my first Moneta, I decided to use a floral knit print from my stash.  I have had this fabric for years, but believe I bought it at Fabricmart Fabrics.  It is a blend of rayon and spandex (I think?) and drapes in the most beautiful way!  I kept looking at it and trying to figure out what to use it for.  I was all set to sew it into a cardigan when I decided to use it as a wearable muslin for the Moneta.

I am SO GLAD I did!  This dress makes me feel like a lady--a lady who could cleverly hide gum in her pocket for later.  And if you have read my blog for any length of time, you may already know that I am the rare person who doesn't care for pockets.  Ok, ok...I may be changing my tune a bit.

I made a size S, and graded to a M for the skirt.  I thought, according to my measurements, that I would need a little more room in the bodice than a S would afford, but the S worked perfectly.  I sewed View B with the 3/4 sleeves, and think this is a very beginner friendly dress to work on.  I love that there are lots of collar options for the neckline with the expansion pack, and plan to revisit some of those variations later.  I also referred to an amazing Moneta sew-along, which gave helpful hints for seam finishes, as well as further insight on the method used to shirr the skirt.

Shirring the skirt is magical!!!  The method Colette used is to take a piece of clear elastic, baste it to the skirt within the 3/8 SA, while making sure to meet up with predetermined markings along the waistband and elastic tape.  It is genius!  When I first tried it out, I thought it might take a bit of a learning curve to get the hang of it, but I was lucky it didn't.  As long as you apply steady pressure while you stretch the elastic, and hold your fabric as you feed it through, I found it to be very easy.

I wish I could gather everything this way!!!

It was quite obvious that the hundreds of reviews for this dress on Patternreview were not incorrect!  I believe this is another wardrobe staple, perfect for just about any level of sewer.  I was so elated when this wearable muslin worked out that I decided I was ready to cut into my mustard French Terry knit:

And behold, the results were exactly what I wanted!! In fact, I have another secret to share with you:  I made a shameless copy, lol!!! As soon as I saw Colette's version of the Moneta in yellow, I wanted one too:

My fabric comes from Girl Charlee, and they still have it here.  The fabric is amazingly soft, and feels like butter when you have it on.  I am so happy with how my copycat version came out!  

For construction, I would like to note that I had to make some additional fit tweaks while sewing the French Terry.  Maybe it's just me, but this fabric seemed to grow some.  I took a bit more out of the waist, as well as a little (1/4") out of the armhole seam.  It fit a lot cleaner and less baggy after I did that.  There was also a bit of fidgeting that took place as I sewed the skirt to the bodice, but I just went a little deeper in on the waist seam to ensure I caught all of my fabric appropriately.  Other than that, I wouldn't mind more Moneta versions made out of French Terry, possibly for early Fall.

Here is how I hope to wear my dress soon:

Overall, in case you missed it, I love this pattern!! It is going down as a TNT for me!  

I am so glad I decided to do the RTW fast again!!!  I mean, here it is in March, and I feel really good about how my wardrobe is coming along.  I don't even miss the stores!  Not a bit.  In fact, I am finding that all my ME-MADES are creating an entirely different problem--I need more shoes, lol!

Thankfully, shoe-shopping is allowed for the RTW fast.  I look forward to upping my shoe game so I can easily wear the things I am creating.

I will be back soon with a review on my other garment made in February, the Adele top.  

Stay sew-filled!