Colette Moneta using Sprout Patterns and Schatzi Brown Tropical Prints

Hello! Can you tell I'm excited to share this dress with you? 

This dress is a dream I've had for quite some time. Many moons I've dreamt of wearing something in a print by Schatzi Brown.  She has a wonderful sense of the mystical in tropical prints. They perfectly suit my surfer girl dreams. She has a nice collection of prints on Spoonflower. I recently shared an in-progress photo of this dress on Instagram and she commented and let me know that she designed the fabric to decorate her daughter's nursery. How cool is that?! Can you imagine having a mom who would do that?

So the day that Colette Patterns posted on Instagram that it was the last day for Moneta Madness, I decided to just jump in and order my dream dress. 

Loving all of the Moneta dresses sewn up this month. Especially this one by @whatkatiedoes. Today is the last day for #monetamadness with @sproutpatterns!

A photo posted by Colette Patterns (@colettepatterns) on Mar 31, 2016 at 10:34am PDT

Super cool thing about the Sprout Patterns... there's no need to cut out, place, or modify a pattern before you get started. Why? Because it comes PRE-PRINTED on the fabric. When you go through and select the pattern by any indie designer on Spoonflower, you can choose a different print for bodice, skirt, and even collar! It's really cool. I wanted an all over same print, especially because it was a very large print and that was super helpful to see with their dress generator!

The day it arrived, I was gleeful and ready to cut straight away. I chose their cotton spandex knit and it's super luscious. ​But the notes from Sprout said to pre-wash. Well duh, Gwen. Cotton knits shrink. Knits can also be kind of squirrley after being washed as the fibers tend to curl and kink. Besides, with a single knit, the edges would curl to one side after cutting alone. Why add pain to an enjoyable process by cutting then washing?  

As you can see, the piece of fabric with pre-printed pattern pieces and my yummy choice of tropical Schatzi print is HUGE! Not only is the print very large scale, but the pieces lay out across the fabric quite a distance. 

I'll admit, it's sad to see such large space between the collar and the pockets or other pattern pieces.  I tend to be very judicious and economical in my pattern placement. I do believe that sprout's laying the pieces so that they will work best with the pattern, but I could be wrong. 

I had help smoothing down the fabric to ensure it would be nice for the photo.  Isn't she the cutest little helper ever? Can you believe that she's 13 years old?!  And would you look at my side table? I painted that this past summer because I fell in love with the tropical colors. Uh, it matches this fabric perfectly and I didn't even plan that. I'm starting to see that I have a color theme and this Heidi Floral by Schatzi has me right on. 

When I first looked at the pieces to cut out, I thought that the white spaces were the seam allowances. No, they are not. That allows for safety in cutting and very likely the tolerance for printing in case the machine needs callibration. And I actually found that the entire process of matching up seams and sewing was MUCH easier when I completely removed all the white. 

Aren't their labels marking each piece cute? Since I left all the white and trimmed after I sewed in many cases, it was really easy for me to tell each piece apart. Sprout recommends you cut the labels off and pin to each pattern piece. Well, that makes sense!

OMG, I'm cutting into this gorgeous fabric!  I can't cut into it... WAIT! YES I CAN! It's already committed to a pattern. Ok. Poof! Go away fabric cutting fear!

Oh did I forget to mention that you get a complete PDF copy of the Colette Moneta Dress Pattern with your purchase? I can make this anytime I want in the future!

The sleeveless Moneta comes with a collar. I am not keen on the Moneta collar. It's a lovely design, don't get me wrong. I'm just not really into collars. Sporty spice, me. Collars just make one hotter and add another area to care for, press, or keep clean/out of trouble. 

The Colette Moneta Pattern instructions call for a lining. I'm lining adverse. I'll just wear a slip. Without a lining, that changes the way all the edges are finished. So how did I do it? Well, I've sewn quite a lot of knits lately and learned a tremendous amount from Kelly Hogaboom andJalie Patterns.  I chose to use the simplest, fastest route that came to mind. 

1. Baste a line where you want to be your fold.  I made this the longest, straightest stitch possible to make it easy to remove later. I chose 1/4" in from the black line / edge of print.  Notice how I left the white edges on to help make the turn easier. 

2. Fold to the wrong side and pin. No need for a ton, just a few strategically placed.  NO NEED TO PRESS! Really!

3. Topstitch leaving part of the white edge.

4. Trim the excess white knit fabric and remove the basted stitch.  Duck billed scissors are the best for this task! Though do be careful to avoid cutting your fashion fabric. Trust me, be careful! I've cut it and had to fix the hole on some tops and that is NOT fun!

Et Voila!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had time to take a walk and take some photos in a lovely natural spot. Using wee ledges I found on these amazing cottonwood trees (dear friends really, I am a tree lover at heart) and the timer on my phone, I took a few shots of the finished dress.  I got to wear it all day and it's ridiculously comfortable. 

Damn I'm good. leaving that extra white trim on allows the neckline and armscyes to lay flat against my body. Woot woot!

Not only does this land feel magical to me, but I also felt magical. The day was warm, my bare legs were free, almost like I was wearing shorts... well, I always do wear a little bike short for modesty, but still. It was exhilarating! 

A recent thunder and lightning storm blew through last night and encouraged all the remaining cherry blossoms on the trees to take flight and dance. So when I arrived at the green, green patch of grass, it looked like the party would begin shortly, upon the next whiff of a breeze. How sweet is it that our Pacific Northwest cherry blossoms match the frangipani on my dress so perfectly? I may be Destined to be an Emerald City Girl in some ways, and at the same time, my tropical heart sings forth. I love how the two align perfectly.  I never imagined that would be possible!

SO, you may notice that my waist looks different than others. Instead of a single row of gathering on a small piece of clear elastic, I opted to do 3 rows of triple stitch zig zag stitching on the skirt attaching it to a 1" width of cotton braided swimwear elastic. The finished effect reminds me of boxer waist bands and those found on PJ pants. Interesting discovery. I hadn't considered that before I went ahead with the ultra-heavy-duty-make-sure-this-gathering-stays-in-place-yes-I'm-an-engineer-and-I-want-it-to-last approach to gathering the waistband. Ha ha! 

"Eh, beam me up Scotty."  Aren't those sun rays wild? Looks just like Star Trek to me. 

The pockets are quite nice because they give my hands a place to land. However, I tried putting my cellphone in them and found that it and the dress bounced at opposing oscillation frequencies and that was a little disturbing. They're great for hands, but they & the fabric aren't intended for heavy items. Especially not if you're the kind of rough & tumble kind of play girl that I am. 

See, even the back neckline hugs the body. That's partly due to the fabric having a high spandex content and good recovery. 

A nice stranger came by as I was posing for my camera (completely hidden by the tree trunk so I looked like I was posing for a tree!) and offered to take my photo.  This is far and away the best photo of my new tropical dress. I can tell this one is going to get a TON of wear. I'm already dreaming about my 2nd Sprout Patterns order in a different print of the Heidi Floral and a different dress. I'd also love to make PJ's out of this print and fabric! 

If you're kind of new to sewing, this would be a great project to take on with the help of an experienced sewer.  There are some things that I just *knew* to do from my years of sewing experience that a beginner might be puzzled or frustrated by. But, at the same time, with a little help, this kind of project would be tremendously satisfying!  Maybe I should find a youth group and offer to teach them... it would be nice to give back and help others learn to sew (somewhere out of my studio in a short, defined period of time). 

How about you, have you tried Sprout Patterns yet?  What about Spoonflower or even the Moneta Dress?