Yet Another Moneta

The Moneta dress was one of the first jersey dresses I have sewn. Nice pattern, cute neckline, however, not a style I would wear every day. 

I did sew two of them and just stopped at that because how many of the casual dresses do you really need?

Well, definitely more than ever if you work 100% from home. The strict lockdown is now finished, I currently spend only about half of my time in the office, and who knows what will happen in autumn. So another Moneta is definitely welcomed. I actually sewed this dress in the middle of the lockdown when the weather was just right for wearing it and I definitely wore it a few times then. It is way too hot for it in the middle of summer but its time will come back again.

I do not think I have much to say about it apart from the fact that it is entirely constructed on my overlocker/coverlocker. I bought a new machine at the beginning of the year and honestly, am still struggling little bit with its settings. So sewing the entire dress was a little bit of a challenge and I was quite happy that I managed it.

Also, I do not have a dedicated space for sewing so I can only have one machine out. And changing the whole setting, putting away the sewing machine, getting out the serger with all its tools.... just way too complicated to happen very often.

However, this is going to change quite soon so I definitely hope to use my serger more often.

I added pockets, because.... well pockets... and I find that one of them is always getting opened. And honestly, I have no idea how to correct this. I played little bit with the seams and the machine but without any major results.

All in all, this is a cute dress. I really love the fabric, it is a very soft cotton jersey and it is elegant and comfy at the same time. Next lockdown, I am ready :)

Summer for Little Boys

I usually sew for little kids in winter time when we see the whole family at X-mas, however, this time, I got to make something for summer, for a change and what a pleasure!

The strong prevalence of little boys in the whole family is still continuing, so I am trying to get creative with what I have 😊. As usual, I wanted to create a complete outfit and this time I even did it for both boys together.

First to come - the linen trousers for the big boy (just over 3 years old) - Fanny trousers from this year La Maison Victor. I used a beige linen remnant - very old stash - and bought a piece of quilting cotton with little coloured buttons to complement it. I must say that I am extremely proud of this combination as the trousers just work with any other colour.

For his little brother, I made a pair of trousers based on the same pattern, but instead of side and back pockets, I created "side in-sewn patch" pockets. Both trousers have elastics in the waist and so should be very easy to pull on.

I still had a piece of the linen so I found a bucket hat free pattern and tried to cut out two of them (because I could not only make one, right). With a little piecing, I won the pattern puzzle game and so the boys have their bucket hats.

Last on the list were some tops. I started with a simple t-shirts, my TNT kids pattern from Ottobre 2019 in the right sizes. 

And since I still had some colored jersey left, I made two more with hoodies.

The small one is a hacked version of Ottobre 2019 hoodie I have already sewn in the past.

The big one is Burda 141-10/2013. I am quite happy I have this stock of old Burdas as it is just a big stock of treasures and basics.

No idea why I do not have the green hoodie t-shirt on this picture... And since everything has already been given to their mum, no chance to have it photographed again :)

A Failed Fail

Last year, when I was sewing a lot with jerseys, I got inspired by Deer&Doe photo of their jersey dress in grey tones. It is a very simple dress, so it definitely did not justify buying the pattern (sorry, Deer&Doe), since I figured that I could easily use a basic jersey pattern and just cut the different panels. I used the same fabric as them, fine cotton jersey, however, I thought it was rather thin for a jersey dress.

Adjusting my pattern was easy peasy, I cut out the upper part in grey-green and the rest in pure grey. The sewing was quick and easy as well, actually a weekday evening project.

That's why I was rather disappointed by the end result. Even though I added little more wearing ease, I found the dress way too hip-hugging for my liking. This is probably because of the fabric, which is less stable than ponte. I put the dress aside thinking I would recycle it to make baby clothes some time.

And there it remained till the lockdown. I am not a pyjama person, so during the whole lockdown period I was wearing dresses at home. And of course, not the same ones as I would wear to work, but all my jersey dresses got worn during the 3 months of me working from home. At that point, I tried to put on this dress again and I figured it was just great for being worn at home, or for the occasional grocery shopping outside.

The funny thing is that it actually became one of the most worn before the weather got too warm to wear a long sleeves dress.

So I must say I am very happy that I kept the dress anyhow, it is comfy, cute and the cotton jersey is of great quality, it resists all washing and is very soft on my skin.