| Designer: Colette | Pattern: Moneta | ||
| Type of fabric: Ponte da Roma Jersey | |||
| Amount of fabric used: 1.5 / 2m (150cm wide) | |||
| Notions I used: Thread, Clear elastic | |||
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My measurements: |
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| Bust: 34″ | Waist: 31″ | Hips: 41″ | |
| Cut Size: Medium for bodice and skirt | |||
Date: 17th April
I went to my first sewing meet-up (sewbrum) where I only knew @sewabigail through Instagram so I followed her like I was her shadow, ha ha. We started off at the Birmingham Edwardian cafe where we then headed to the rag market and Guthrie & Ghani (G&G, Moseley) I did met and talk to a lot more ladies by the end of the day, it was great.
I was eyeing up the Moneta pattern but I couldn’t make a decision (not the 1st time). I had never worked with jersey before and I heard that it was a tricky fabric to work with, however, another individual was hovering over my shoulder asking me about the Moneta dress and if I was going to buy it or not…. I finally made a decision, not this time but maybe next, as soon as those words came out of my mouth so did the pattern out of my hands…@sewpositivty (Elle Harris), I was shocked but laughed about it. she was eager…any ho I walked away without the pattern but a couple of months later I went back to G&G and brought the pattern. Bad experiences can turn out well, me and Elle are now friends and she couldn’t apologise enough the next time I saw her. 🙂
I was still unsure about making this pattern so I started discussing it with @Rach_Wain (who I met at sewbrum) about fabric options, needles, overlocker or sewing machine etc…. but Rachel being Rach was kind enough to offer to help me. We meet up again at ‘the sewing for pleasure’ show at the NEC along with about 15 other lovely ladies, Rachel helped me pick my fabric and needles.
We planned a day where Rachel would come round to my house and help me to sew up the Moneta dress. This was a fun but nerve racking day for me because I was being taken out of my comfort zone… Jersey, negative ease and overlocker!!!
First we chose what size to cut out, Rachel was about the same size as me in bust, waist and hips so this helped but I was confused because Rachel advised me to cutout a medium but this was smaller than my body measurements? I would normally cut a size that is bigger than my body measurements to allow for me to be able to move in my clothes but Rachel explained about negative ease..
I have taken the below description from https://www.craftsy.com/blog/2014/01/sewing-ease/ so it is explained so you can understand it. ha ha
NEGATIVE EASE
Negative ease is used for stretch fabrics that have more give and can stretch around your body comfortably by themselves. A negative ease garment will measure smaller than your actual body measurements, but will still stretch enough to fit you comfortably. Bathing suits and active wear, like yoga pants, will have negative ease.
This was new to me, it made sense but still apprehensive.
I believed her and cut out the fabric, we now went on to sewing it up….argh!!! to be honest it was a lot easier than I thought it was going to be.
We tested the overlocker on scrap pieces of the jersey to ensure that the tension was correct, it wasnt so Rachel started to adjust it for me. 🙂
The overlocker isnt that scary either, you can sew up a garment so quickly, just make sure your fabric and fingers are to the left of the blade and you will be fine. If you have issues with your tension then I would advise to use a different coloured thread for each dial (Blue, Green, Yellow and Red) so you can see which ones you need to adjust and it looks pretty.
I started to sew the Moneta dress on the overlocker which was fab and the pattern has pockets..eeekkk!!! It is so easy to make, the only part I found fiddly was the clear elastic, thankfully Rachel was around to advise because my patience was running thin back then, we got there in the end.
Link may help: https://blog.colettehq.com/tutorials/tutorial-stabilizing-and-gathering-knits-with-clear-elastic
I also used a twin needle for the first time too, again I was nervous!!…Why? I asked myself after, it is no different to how you sew with a single needle.
I took off 2 1/4″ off the skirt length which was much better. I chose to add a belt, really happy with results.
Thank you Rachel and Elle 🙂 It is funny because all three lovely ladies are now hosting a Moneta party (24th – 26th Feb 2017)
Notes for next time:
* Higher the waistline to natural waist (may not need to shorten skirt if doing this?)
* Need to pin the clear elastic in more places.
* Mark notches on the elastic.
* Zigzag side seams (bodice and skirt) to check they line up before over locking.
* add belt loops (maybe)
Overlocker dials:
* 1 notch below 1
* turn side dial to 2
Tension
* B = 3 and a bit
* G = 3 and a bit
* R = 4
* Y = 4
Dont be scared to try something new, you will be suprised, it isn’t as scary as you think…
Happy sewing all x
Jodie Laura 