Art Deco Moneta

I made my second Moneta this week, having found the most beautiful fabric on the ends table at my local Fabricland. There was only 2 m. of it, and I immediately thought of the Colette Moneta when I saw it; it's a great pattern to highlight a fabric, as there are few interruptions from seams and so on to distract the eye.

The fabric is lightweight, with more horizontal than vertical stretch. It is also really interesting texturally. I don't know what it's called but it's the kind of fabric that has two layers -- when I cut it, the black dots are raised from the base in the middles, they are more textural and crinkly as well. In any case, it's beautiful, reminding me of an Art Deco interpretation of spacetime curvature.

I changed just a few things this time around: I added a sleeve cuff to finish & extend the sleeve slightly. I also fixed the bodice by taking a half inch wedge out of the lower back, tapering to nothing at the side seams, as I found my first one needed a bit of a swayback adjustment. I raised the waistline by half an inch as well to get it to sit at the right place on me. The most obvious change is the neckline: I love my first Moneta, but the neckline is very wide on me, so to avoid bra strap visibility this time, I cut the neckline one inch higher and narrower. I think I could have had the front curve a bit deeper, but I still like it. I finished the neckline with a 1.5 inch facing strip that I stitched down, rather than just turning and stitching, to give it more solidity.

I was fortunate that this week at work, we were all getting official photos taken for publicity purposes. Because I live in a small town I already knew the photographer, having worked on other events he was photographing. When we got to chatting he offered to take photos of my new dress just for my blog if I wore it this week. So of course I rushed to finish and he did! Thank you, thank you to Scott Wishart, a photographer and a gentleman.

Speaking of photography, something I've discovered over the past few years is that I am much less nervous or alarmed at the idea of having my picture taken. I attribute this entirely to the habit of taking pictures of myself for this blog. I know from experience that I'll have to take a lot, and that most of them will be deleted, but that eventually I'll find a few I like. I also know that I look how I look, and no camera can change that for me. I'm owning the reality of my appearance, and not feeling obliged to camouflage or apologize for it. The habit of posting images of myself makes me less self-conscious, since I'm now used to looking at snapshots -- I don't take glamour shots of myself, both because I don't know how, and because I'm not made for traditional glamour, not being tall or willowy! I just share myself as I am. So when these work photos came about, I found I wasn't anxious about how I'd look, as I'm pretty aware already of how I look in photos. Not always the way I wish I did, but the way I am. What about you? Does the habit of taking pictures of yourself in your own clothes make you more comfortable with yourself and your image, or are you still getting used to the idea?