Colette Moneta round 2!

I really love the feminine look of this dress, in fact, all Colette dresses are super girly and it's nice, know what I mean?



I've already made one version of this dress, but on the cover of the latest Threads, there was such a beautiful version made with a simply divine fabric from Marcy Tilton.
         


Marcy no longer had that stunning fabric so I searched high and low and found this lovely floral from Gorgeous Fabrics.  I think it is just about as pretty!

So I made pretty much the same version this time but used the elbow length sleeves.  I hope I don't regret those sleeves this summer!

I took so precautions with the collar, to keep it from stretching out of shape.  First, I interfaced with a sheer and lightweight version from Fashion Sewing Supply.  I really love this stuff!  Next, I staystitched the seam line and then I stitched stay tape to the seam.  This might be overkill, but this fabric was pretty stretchy.  Then I stitched the undercollar to the collar.

This kept everything from shifting and shimmying across my machine.  Since I didn't line the bodice, I stitched the undercollar to the wrong side of the garment.  I flipped the collar to the right side of the bodice, edge stitched to keep it from rolling to the wrong side and viola!  No neckline hem to deal with!  You can see how it looks in the photo below.

I really like the overall fit of this dress.  It is designed with negative ease, so measure carefully what size you need.  Oh and I almost forgot that I stay taped the shoulder seams as well.  

Just for reference, I made a medium, which in the Big 4 is my typical size.  

The cross over collar detail in the back is a nice little touch.  You could eliminate this if you wanted. In fact, on Colette's site, there is a free download for more versions of the little collar so you can be as creative as you'd like with contrasting fabrics and such.  If I remember correctly, there are eight additional versions!

This dress is very comfortable and with the right knit can feel like you are wearing ultra comfortable pajamas and who doesn't want to feel like that when you are working or at an event where you need a pretty dress?

I put this dress together in about 3 hours from cutting to stitching the hemline.  It helps I had made it once before but it is such a simple to make pattern that any beginner would have great success.  Even if you are experienced, this dress is just fun to make!

It was chilly today, so I am modeling it with black leggings.  I do like it with the belt! It was also very windy so of course I am having a bad hair day! 

I used my serger on all the seams and to hem, I used steam a seam and folded the lower hem twice to create a nice, neat edge.

 One deviation from the pattern I made was to eliminate the elastic at the waistline.  Why, well, let me back up a bit.  The cover of Threads shows an ultra gathered skirt and I couldn't get my first one to look that way with the elastic I used so I just skipped that step, gathered the skirt and attached it.  It is still pretty gathered but not nearly as much as the cover.

I am thinking they made the skirt extra wide so it gathered so much.  Oh, and I almost forgot, I eliminated the side seam pockets.  In a knit dress, I don't like them at the side seam as it seems to weigh the dress down when I put my phone, lip gloss, driver's license inside.  To avoid that temptation, I don't even mess with them.

Thanks so much for reading!  What are you sewing lately?
Sue