July 15, 2014

Tulip Moneta

This dress (yep - it's a dress) is the 3rd moneta I've made.  This pattern is quick, easy and mostly flattering.  In this knit the skirt is so very, very swishy!  The bodice fabric is a heavy jersey I picked up at JoAnn Fabrics on my bonus Monday off after the July 4th holiday.  The skirt portion is a stretch jersey ITY crepe knit border print that I bought from Fabric.com in 2011 (according to my order history), the top of this fabric was all white.  Since I managed to spill something on the skirt today and every single time I wear white I can't keep food in my mouth - I did NOT want a white bodice.  So - I took the fabric to JoAnn's to find something to work with it.  You can't see it in the photos, but the bodice has just a tiny bit of sparkle in it.  

bonus pics of the poor maple firewood and stump!
Moneta has a slight a-line shaped, gathered skirt.  The pattern piece has a curved hem.  Honestly - I can't remember if I lengthened this or not - but I think I probably did - just because I always do.   When I cut the skirt, I placed the bottom of the center front skirt pieces an inch below the bottom of the border print.  So, I lost some of the bottom of the border in the curve of the pattern piece.  Make sense?  I did not include pockets because I am not a pocket girl.  My hips are big enough I don't need to pile stuff on top of them.


I did scoop out the front neckline a bit.  I think the front neckline on this pattern is quite high.  I did not line the bodice or use bands, I simply pressed the edge under 3/4" and topstitched it.  I also did something weird with the sleeve hems - the appear to be curved - need to straighten them out!


Honestly - I'm not sure I love the skirt portion of this pattern.  The skirt gathers to the bodice.  My issues are my own problem and creating.  Since I don't know how big my hips are or how much ease they need - I cut the skirt portion in size 3X.  However, I cut the bodice in a large (um, yea - it could be slightly bigger).  However - I left all the matching notches where they were because they large sizes aren't nested with the smaller sizes.  This time I matched side seams and notches and gathered to fit.  That means more of the gathers are on the sides rather than evenly spaced.   I do think I'll take a page from Idle Fancy's book and pleat the skirt next time - or try matching the lady skater skirt to this bodice - or maybe flora ala Heather B.


17 comments :

  1. It looks great! Love your fabric! I love that the gathers hide my cake bumps!
    I made mine with the 3XL skirt and a 2XL bodice and even though I changed the skirt notches to match the bodice, it still does have more gathering at the sides. For my next one I am just going to match the sides and the centres and ignore the notches.

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  2. I love how this came out! The border print is so lovely :)

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  3. Love your Moneta, especially with the contrast bodice to pick up the colour of your border print. I had trouble with the skirt gathering too - gathering a 2XL skirt onto XL bodice!

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  4. Lovely! Beautiful use of that border print!

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  5. I like this dress! It looks great on you.

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  6. Like this one a lot ! The border print is beautiful :-)

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  7. That is a great dress with beautiful fabric. Love it.

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  8. I love it! The photos are awesome, but you know we're all about anything close to PANK here, and that skirt print is awesome.

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  9. Beautiful.. Love the fabric. This pattern looks great on you.. Happy sewing.

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  10. I completely ignore the notches, and just mark half-way between the seams on the bodice and skirt. By the looks of it your skirt might be bigger than it needs to be, too (that is, you don't look like you'd need the 3XL if you didn't want as much fabric gathering around your waist).

    It looks really cool in two different fabrics though - and what a good way to get around the white fabric. I cannot wear white because I will spill something, every time.

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  11. That fabric combo is delish! Florals and sparkles!

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  12. It looks really good. I love the bodice matching the tulips. I don't like gathered skirts because they make me feel lumpy; I'll always use a flared skirt like on the Lady Skater, but pleats would probably work well, too. The belt creates a nice definition between the skirt and bodice, and the pink is great on you.

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  13. Gaylen you are so clever!!! What a classy outfit and I LOVE the tulip fabric you chose. It looks wonderful on you and I'm glad to see you are still being crafty :)

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  14. I love border prints and in my favorite color too. What's not to like?

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  15. I love that you used a different fabric for the bodice. I have a really cool ity print that I want to make a dress from, but it just feels so thin. I could take a page from your book and just use it for the skirt portion. That purple-pink is very pretty! Love the scoop of the back neckline.

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  16. I think it looks very pretty and I love the border print! I have mixed feelings about the gathers too, some people say gathers hide stuff, but I always get the feeling they make me look bigger. Pleats would probably work really nicely, or maybe a size smaller skirt with less gathers?

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I appreciate you coming to see me. It may take me a bit to publish your comment - but I will get to them by the end of every day. If you leave a way for me to get back to you, I will. Thanks for taking the time to comment and share your opinions. g

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