Back in Black: Moneta

Dooooods.  My first Moneta, the one made from fabric that earned me the scorn of the cutting lady at Joann, was so comfy, cute and easy to put together that I was destined to make another right quick.

This all-black Moneta is definitely not the most show-stopping or thrilling piece I've ever sewn... but I am pretty sure it will be among my most worn.  It's basically a blank slate for accessorizing.  Need a backdrop for an enormous necklace? a colorful scarf? a particularly loud blazer or cardigan? Solid black Moneta responds "Yes, please, choose me! Accessorize the shit out of me!"

Par exemple:

I won't say much about the construction of the dress because I did exactly what I did for my first Moneta, which is to say I followed the directions to a tee.  The only change I made was to cut out the 3/4 length sleeves, which was actually more of a pain than I thought it would be, purely because I had to sort through the PDF pattern to find the pages corresponding to the longer sleeve pattern in order to print them out.  Mayhaps Colette could make things easier on that front in the future by identifying the pages or making a separate file for the various sleeve options?

Rainbow Dots Moneta

I might be the last person on earth to make Colette's Moneta knit dress, but I am so happy I finally decided to go for it... I wasn't sure I neeeeded to buy the pattern when it first came out considering I already had another knit dress (the Lady Skater), but after seeing approximately 10,000 gorgeous Monetas spring forth on the internets and learning that there was going to be a sewalong, I pulled the trigger and bought the pattern. Glad I did, too, because Moneta is pretty amazeballs. It's a great blank slate, it's a comfy but classy staple, it can be made in just a couple of hours...

My favorite parts of this pattern:

The lovely neckline... when I tried on my finished Moneta, I couldn't remember which side was the front and which was the back. It looks pretty good both ways! Turns out the lower neckline is the back, which is fairly unusual.

The revolutionary (at least for me) waistline shirring method using clear elastic... mind blowing.  Mine is not perfect (I seem to have some ungathered areas where I held the fabric to stretch out the elastic), but I am confident that next time it will be. This method is easy and makes the waistline feel secure. I'm not worried about it stretching out with the elastic in there!

This fabric:

Did I originally buy it to make something for my nieces?  Yes. (There's a little leftover, enough for a t-shirt or something for one of the girls, so I don't feel that bad.)

Did the cutting lady at Joann make fun of me for buying the fabric since it's a bit eye-searing?  Yes.(Don't judge, lady, just cut. Preferably straight. I've got my eye on you.)

Do I love it anyway?  Yes. (It's so fun!)

I do love this fabric, although I noticed when cutting it that the dots are totally off-grain. I didn't bother with pattern matching for that reason.  Plus, if you try to look at the fabric too closely for too long, your eyes start to go blurry and you feel a little lightheaded.  So best not think too hard about whether the dots are running straight or matching, right? Right. 

Looks good with my orange belt, too, methinks. Hooray!