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5.09.2014

Fauxneta

I have a shocking admission to make today that goes against my "twitter cred" of buying all the patterns. So  here goes....instead of buying the new Moneta pattern to add to my hoard, I saved my money and knocked off the look.  "What!  You didn't buy a pattern?!  How dare you call yourself All the Patterns Heather.  Don the Ribbons of Shame woman!"

While Froggie is digging out the ribbons of shame, let me just explain myself a bit.  I have a problem with Colette patterns, a general problem that perhaps some of you have had with someone's designs.  The problem is that I like their design aesthetic, but the majority of their patterns don't suit me.  For unknown reasons I have to walk a thin line between looking ladylike or looking like a grown women dressing like a little girl in the porniest way possible.  Let me tell you from personal experience that donning a peter pan collar is a one way ticket to the wrong type of attention.  So here's the thing, even though I liked Moneta pattern it only took one look to know that most of the design elements wouldn't work for me.   After stripping all those things away what was left was a Lady Skater with a gathered skirt.  So I made a Lady Skater with a gathered skirt.
It's not even a modified Lady Skater skirt. Oh no, I went the supremely lazy way and put the Emery skirt on the Lady Skater bodice.  Cutting woven patterns on knits, dogs and cats living together, total pandemonium.
Ok, maybe all that happened was swishy skirts.
The Lady Skater bodice was modified a bit to mimic the Moneta look.  I raised the scoop neck about 1.5" and shortened the sleeves to a cap length of 3.75".
The bodice is lined both as a design element and to make use of this fern like burn out knit in the stash. Man, Past Heather bough a lot of burn out jerseys. But she also bought a lot of white rayon knit, which allowed me to solve two stash problems at once. High five past me.

The finishing process on this dress is pretty similar to the Lady Skater I made out of sweater knit earlier in the year.  The only change was to use iron on knit stay tape instead of clear elastic to stabilize the neck. Mostly because I thought the elastic might be seen through the burn out areas. The rest of the finishing is the same, using the inside layer as a lining and taking down the edge with a cover stitch.
The gathered skirt was attached with the serger, but I made the seam allowance larger by adding a line of stretch stitching about 1/4" away.  Now I don't worry about that heavy skirt ripping away from a tiny 1/4"  seam allowance at an inopportune moment.
I treated the two layers as one on the sleeve and skirt hems, turning up the edge and coverstitching it into place.
In the interest of "keeping it real" here's the dirty secret on the inside of my dress.  Gasp! What are those cut edges doing there?
Despite sewing several cap sleeves last summer I forgot that they tend to wing out weirdly without adjustments.  After the dress was finished I had to go back in and bevel the underarm seam to reduce the diameter of the sleeve. This is why I usually make muslins people. I can't be trusted to sew things correctly the first time.

So other than my sleeve gaff this baby turned out pretty darn cute as well was ticking the following boxes. Box one - use up a bunch of stash,  Box 2 - mess with Kitschy Coo patterns some more, Box 3 - keep up my Stepford wife facade.  "Would you all like to some inside my house for some fresh bread?  I promise it isn't laced with anything that makes you tell me your credit card numbers. Froggie get a pen!"

30 comments:

  1. I share your dilemma with Colette patterns. I love the Lady Skater. So this post is definitely Kristin-approved :-)

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  2. Love the dress! I've been a little disappointed in how simple their recent pattern releases have been as I adore their more interesting patterns from the past. So I approve of your mashup :)

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  3. Love the dress. I'm right there with you on Colette patterns. I adore them on others, but they are just not me. But having said that, I have the Moneta on the way to me in the mail, but only because I desperately wanted the book and it seemed to silly to pay $14 postage when for $4 extra I could get free postage and a pattern. I'm a sucker for deals!

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  4. Look at you! You're the hottest wife in all of Stepford!!! Also, I'm loving your kicks!

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  5. Lovely! Great use of burnout jersey, it looks so classy!

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  6. Who knew that burnout jersey could look so great!? Of course you did. Dang...lady, this is one awesome dress.

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  7. gorgeous! i see no shame in switching out the skirt shape. heck CP isn't the only designer to put out this dress style recently...

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  8. Very creative work and this dress suits you beautifully.

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  9. Another darling dress Heather! Thank GAWD you have enough now to wear to all your ladies tea events! ;-)

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  10. I think it's lovely. And you'll just have to be all patterns (that work for) Heather!

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  11. Fabulous! Great job stash busting!

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  12. Beautiful dress! I am not lucky with Colette patterns as well, and when I first saw the Moneta dress, I thought it was too expensive, because it's a Lady Skater with a gathered skirt, ha!

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  13. Awesome! I didn't buy the pattern either since I figured I could hack my own too. Glad to know you did it successfully!

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  14. Excellent /\! More Lady Skaters for the both of us.

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  15. Why thank you Erin. I've been jonsing for an intermediate type pattern release from just about anybody. Challenge us experienced folks, please!

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  16. I approve of your deal taking Debbie. Might as well get something for your $$$ instead of wasting it just on shipping. :)

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  17. LOL! I shall now go vacuum in my high heels. My stepford overlords tell me this is expected.

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  18. Thanks Marrie. I'm super relieved to have used that burnout jersey up. Sometimes stashing things just cause you like them is a pain in the ass later.

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  19. :) Thanks Margo, I'm gonna pretend I planned the burnout jersey purchase for the dress. No, it didn't sit in the stash for years, laa laa laaa.

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  20. Thanks Lisa. Gotta save my pennies for other fun things....like shoes. :)

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  21. Thanks Jean, I did wear a lot of knit dresses last summer so this one should come in handy.

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  22. HAA HAAA HAA! You know I have to impress the mayor at the local floral show.

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  23. Good point VickiKate, no reason spending your $$$ on things that don't work for you.

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  24. Thanks Emily. I'm getting the knit stash worked down at least. :)

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  25. Haa haa, great minds think alike. Though I'm guilty of buying similar styles in the past, it's probably silly to do so.

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  26. You can hack it no problem Melanie. I'm pretty sure you've already done harder things than changing a neckline. :)

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  27. Hey! I know that song!!! yeah yeah....laa laa laaa !!

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  28. I line everything, I wanna line my moss mini and I wanna line my knit dresses but finding some appropriate knit lining seems to avoid me. Ryon knit ... my search begins, without having to order online from overseas! I love when you hack patterns, this one is no exception.

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  29. It is too bad that you're overseas or else I'd recommend a couple of things I've lined knits with. But a rayon might be easy to find in your neck of the woods. :)

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  30. I have the same dilemma with Sewaholic patterns. I think you've done a brilliant job using what you have and what you know works to come up with your own version of the Moneta. Job well done, I say!

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