My Sew-A-Long Mae

What do you get when you cross polka dots, birds, and my favorite color red?  You unlock triple amounts of awesome that make up my sew-a-long Mae.

I had to take part in the Mae sew-a-long cause A - I like this pattern, B - chance at prizes, C- I bought a card of bakelite buttons that had just the right number for Mae.

Changes to this version.
1. The neckline is the one Abby drafted and not my modified larger one. They both look good so why not switch them up.
2. Took off the extra ease I'd added in the sleeve area during my lazy fix adding extra east to the entire side seam.
3. Increased the width of the button placket an 1/8" because these buttons were a bigger and I needed more width for the button holes

I also underlined this version with some siri lining, because you could clearly see the black polka dots through the white areas. Facing shadows, no thank you!  Putting in an underlining is a pain, but you do get the added bonus of being able to sew down all those facings.  I whip stitched down the armhole facings since sometimes they want to flash people. Dirty, dirty armhole facings.

The fabric is from Gertie's Etsy store this summer, a cotton with a touch of spandex in it. The underlining cancels out the stretch factor but that's OK, I've got enough ease to be comfy.

Also from Etsy the cute embroidered felt bird patch.  Check out Dahlia Soleil if you're looking for something like this.  She has many different designs - plants, animals, etc and you can chose from different colors of felt. I ordered an iron on patch but ended up hand sewing it on for a more vintage look.

"Tweet, tweet, I'm making your blouse that much more awesome." Right you are red bird, even the 3 year old thinks you're the bee's knees.  Already got complements in this version while running errands, so all around a great make. Hooray for Mae!

Hey Baby, Nice Buttons - The Mae Blouse

Hello All, once again I'm strutting around in some vintage inspired goodness from Bluegingerdoll. This time it's the new Mae blouse.

After my love affair with the Billie Jean dress, it should come as no surprise that I jumped on the pattern as soon as it was released.  I have a bit of a thing for scalloped details on tops so that pretty much sealed the deal. Scallops are detail I find very pretty and I can actually wear without looking like a grown women trying to dress like a 6 year old. (Yeah I'm looking at you peter pan collars.)

So I bought the pattern and then bought new fabric instead of going into the stash.  GASP, don the ribbons of shame! But really I couldn't help it cause Mae is the perfect pattern for a 2-2.5 yard cuts of 36" vintage cotton.  The kind of cotton I might be amazing a small stockpile of. (It's vintage and pretty, Wheeee! I love you Etsy.)

Pattern
Mae button back blouse from Bluegingerdoll.

Fabrics used
Some vintage quilting cotton purchased off of Etsy.  Strawberries on a navy background. How could I say no? This was a 2.5 yard cut of 36 wide cotton and I was able to cut out the larger size of the pattern and still have some left over.

Pattern changes/alterations
1. I started with the same 12/14/16 that I used with the Billie Jean dress.  Shoulders 12, waist 14, hip 16, and traced the size 14 dart. The muslin was the right shape for my body but was too tight through out the torso.  Decided to do a quick fix of adding 3/4" to the entire side seam.

2. Did my normal 1/2 forward shoulder adjustment.

3. Cut the neckline back 5/8" by tracing pattern edge of the upper scallops and making the ones in the center larger.  I adjusted the back neckline at the shoulder to match the front but did not make the back neckline lower.  The facings were then adjusted to match the new neckline.

Confessions/Advice
1. Since this was my first time ever making any kind of button back garment I actually read the directions.  Then my brain was all, "I don't want to assimilate this new information," so I had to remind it who was the boss.  And bribe it with cookies.   The silly thing is that it's really just the same as putting buttons in the front but my brain was all Duhhhh?

2. Way back in 2009 when I made my first garment with scallops, I found marking the valley between each scallop really helpful when sewing.  That way you know exactly where to pivot the needle and your scallop size doesn't get all irregular.  You can mark the seam allowance directly on the fashion fabric with a clear ruler and a disappearing marker/chalk.

3. Instead of clipping all the curves on the neckline, I graded the seam allowance and just clipped at the valley point.  This technique also worked well for getting the scallops to look nice after pressing.

4. The buttons in the back stop about 5" above the hemline so you get some extra hip ease when moving around.

Husband Comment
"Hey this has vents, no wait they're buttons.  Are these supposed to be on the back?"

My Final Thoughts
This was a fun little project other than my routine cursing at the buttonhole attachment. (Some day buttonhole attachment, bang zoom straight to the moon!)  The neckline takes little time to press nicely, check Abby's blog for details, but other than that zoom zoom and you're done. It's a cute little number and I'll be sewing another one for the sew-a-long....which starts today. I better hurry up and pick a fabric!

P.S. I've paired the Mae blouse with a pencil skirt that was hacked from the Billie Jean dress.  Next post I'll show you the changes I made and how to draft a curved waistband. Ohhhh exciting...maybe.