Saturday 21 January 2017

Moneta in Manila

A business trip to Manila is obviously a reason for me to get stitching, but in the middle of January I didn't want to make something for the trip that I wouldn't wear again until Summer. The solution was to make a dress I could wear on the trip in the sun and also wear back at home with tights in the middle of Winter. 

The Moneta dress by Collette Patterns is one of those dresses that every sewing blogger under the sun has made at least one version of - it's such a versatile and flattering pattern. I can't believe I haven't got round to making it until now. I finally bought the pattern and some beautiful great and purple spandex viscose with bold wide stripes from Guthrie and Ghani. The colours were probably a bit drab for the beautiful Filipino sunshine, but more practical for rainy Manchester.  

As usual, I found I had bought far too much fabric when I started cutting out. The construction of the bodice was very easy on the overlocker. I also got a chance to have a first play with my new toy - a coverstitch machine which was my prize in the dressmaker of the year competition back in September. After a couple of false starts and a bit of frantic googling, I loved using it and the finish on gems is so professional. The skirt has in-seam pockets and these went in well. To gather the skirt, you need to use clear elastic which is shirred. I hadn't used this method for gathering skirts before, only for knicker elastic!  I wasn't as neat as I could be and the elastic ended up about 1.5cm down from the edge in some areas. When I attached the skirt to the bodice, the stitching was visible, but even worse, I caught some of the skirt in the overlocker (wasn't concentrating properly).  It was ruined with no way to fix it and I was devastated. 

Luckily all that extra fabric came in handy! I cut another skirt from the leftover fabric and a new bodice from the skirt of my first attempt. This time it went together perfectly and I sewed the whole thing up in one evening. Despite my near disaster, this was a really enjoyable project and I can see why Moneta has gained such a following. I'll definitely be making one again (but will be more careful next time. 

 

I also took the opportunity to go fabric shopping in Manila and picked up some bargains. Lots more projects on the way!

I did try to get a few pics of the dress before I went, but Polly was keen to get in on the action!

 

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