The Moneta Knit Dress

This is another one of those patterns that I’ve had for years but never made. The Colette Patterns Moneta knit dress (discontinued) pattern always seemed like a practical and easy to wear dress to me. So, I finally did it. In order to get the fit I wanted on the Moneta knit dress, I had to do quite a lot of work and make more than a few changes. I’ll take you through what I did in case you need to do the same either for this pattern, or another.

The Changes

Here’s a quick list of the changes:

lengthened the bodice by about 2″
widened the bodice at the bottom by about 1/2″
redrafted the pockets to make them bigger (more useable)
added a neckband
widened the sleeves by 1″
did a FBA (full bust adjustment)

While this list seems like a lot, I was determined to have a wearable, knit dress that is comfortable, versatile and makes me feel good when I put it on.

I noticed when I made a muslin (sadly it didn’t end up being a wearable muslin) that the waist seam hit me in the ribs, which I find very annoying. That’s the reason made the bodice longer. I wanted something that would be closer to my waistline. This is a common adjustment I’ve been doing for most dresses that have a waist seam. Here’s another example.

I also needed to make the bodice wider at the bottom so it wasn’t tight. The pattern size is an XL, by the way. Often garments with negative ease are too negative (which makes them tight).

I will check the finished garment measurements for knit patterns so I can adjust to my comfort level.

Another adjustment I had to make with this pattern is the width of the sleeves. This was something new for me. I also don’t have big arms/biceps, so I don’t know why they were so uncomfortably tight. I had to look in one of my sewing books to learn how to adjust for this, since I’ve never done this before. I’ll leave a link below to the book I referenced.

sleeve alteration pattern piece — What the sleeve piece looks like now

The Results

Once I got everything worked out, I I made this blue dress above. I also made this brown dress (from knit fabric I bought at JoAnn’s).

I often find it easier to make a second garment when I can right after the first one. The pattern is already out and I’ve gotten my fit adjustments done, so why not? I won’t cut two out at the same time though.

I’m very happy with the final results and I feel like I have a dress that is really customized to me and my preferences.

Let me know if you’ve made this dress (it’s an older pattern). Do you make so many changes that the pattern is almost your own creation? 😂

The book I referenced for these changes:

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Making a Raglan Sleeve Top

Making a raglan sleeve top can be a little confusing at first if you haven’t done it before. I have made a few, but I always have to take my time to make sure I attach the sleeve in the right spot. For this top, I used this Kwik Sew pattern 4041. I used some fabric I’ve had for (many) years.

With a raglan sleeve, the sleeve extends to the neckline/collar in one piece. So, there’s no traditional shoulder seam. I hadn’t used this pattern before, but this is one that I had picked up in a recent pattern haul.

Although this is an easy pattern to make, this first one took quite a while because I needed to match the stripes. I sewed a size large for this one, but it was a bit too large for me.

So, I wanted to make this again because I do like the style. Since I had traced the pattern, it was easy to trace again and make a size medium. I used some leftover fabric I had in my fabric stash and made the next one.

I think this is a much better fit. I used some leftover Minerva fabric for the body and black ribbed knit for the sleeves. This is a quick top to make when I don’t have to match up any stripes! The black and gray top took me about two hours to make.

On the pattern envelope you can see that this is a wider neckline. With that in mind, if you prefer something that’s not quite as wide, I would choose a different pattern. Because of how raglan sleeve tops are made, I would not want to go through the work of altering this particular pattern. I would just choose a different pattern design.

But my original navy blue and green striped is definitely wearable. I simply wear it with a T-shirt or tank underneath. The black and gray is warm and very comfortable (you know I like comfort).

The majority of the time, I do use my serger when I sew knits. I just love how the seams look and hold together when finished off with this. But if you’ve never sewn knits before, or don’t own a serger, not to worry.

You can simply use a zigzag stitch to sew the seams and that will give you the stretch you need for the seams.

I love sewing and wearing knit garments. They are comfortable to wear, easy to pack when traveling and easy to care for. Here’s a previous post on some other knit top patterns I’ve made.

Let me know if you sew knits or are you a bit apprehensive about it? It’s a process that can be much easier than you think!

Here’s a book that I find is full of helpful information and inspiration:

*This post contains affiliate links

Love Notions Arlington Sweater

The Love Notions Arlington sweater is one of those things that came across my Instagram feed a few weeks back. If you aren’t aware, Love Notions pattern company does what they call “$5 Friday”. That means that whatever pattern is the feature for that week, you can purchase the PDF for $5. This is one of those that I wanted and bought.

As you can see from the drawing above, the Love Notions Arlington sweater is very versatile. I love having patterns that have many options available without me having to alter or “hack”. I do love a good hackable pattern too (here’s one of my favorites).

For this one, I made the cowl neck with the elbow length sleeves. The fabric I used is a textured stretch knit I was gifted from Minerva Fabrics. You can take a look at it here and read the corresponding post on their site as well. The fabric is warm and weighty (it’s considered a medium-weight knit). It sews easy and washes and dries very well.

The pattern is definitely beginner friendly. I didn’t have to make any adjustments to it for fit. And with the PDF, you can get it and print it up. Because the pattern has layers, you can just print the size you want. And best of all, you only need to assemble the pages you want to use. This helped me a lot because I didn’t want to put the entire pattern together to make this top.

Love Notions Arlington sweater side view

As cooler weather approaches here, I’m happy to have some Fall tops that I can wear to stay warm and comfortable without overheating. I can wear this under a jacket (or shacket) and it’s quite comfortable.