Gingham & Mae...

The sun is starting to shine on a regular basis here in Melbourne, birds are starting to sing and the smell of spring is in the air.. its the best time ever, in my opinion. So i thought it appropriate to start sewing up a few new spring things for my wardrobe. To say i am over winter just doesn't convey how bitterly i hate winter, especially a Melbourne winter, just gross. Now because i am biased towards my sewing patterns i chose to sew up another MAE blouse, which i also perfect for the coming spring.Whilst sewing this one up i realized a few things...

Did you know the Mae sewing pattern is versatile as well as lots of other cool things? Yep... it is and i  thought i would point these out,  especially  in terms of its  versatility, the  flattering fit, sewing it up, seasons and some places to wear it.

Awesome point 1: Functionality.
 I adore clothes that can be worn from day to night, from the office to a Friday night drink (or 10) maybe I'm a bit of scab or lazy... Dunno but i love the fact that Mae can be dressed up or down EASILY. Tucked in or out... it just rolls with it and looks great while doing it.

The  MAE blouse is also  perfect for a jeans wearing kinda a day, this is the main reason this  Mae blouse was sewn up for, purely just  for those days. I wanted to make a more casual version that i could just throw on  with jeans and my fav converse.The blouse also just does it thing, by effortlessly adding some glamour and femininity to your casual outfit, think of it as schamncy version of a jeans and tee day.
 I wore this MAE all Saturday while out and about, running errands, grab a  few compliments along the  way in the supermarket isle, lounged on the couch for a bit, normal weekend stuff and it passed the test, while being comfy.

As well being well suited to wearing in the day, the MAE blouse can also be easily taken into the night. I recommend tucking it into a cute pencil skirt, slipping on those pumps, bit of red lippy and your right to go. Mae is also heaps suitable in an office environment, i wear my Mae blouses to work all the time. I love the fact its different from the day to day corporate drone wear..also see list one above...

Awesome point 2: Flattering fit & design
There is a  slight  little peplum  that shows when you wear your MAE blouse UN- tucked. Now, i have got  some booty and hips and the Mae blouse's feminine fit is very flattering for these parts.The waist darts are the key point here, designed purely to accentuate the small of the waist, defining it and creating the  slight peplum effect that  i mentioned before, which gently  sweeps over your hips, to give  a gorgeous hourglass figure. I do try and design my patterns to flatter all figures, so if you got curves don't think twice sew up the Mae blouse or even the Billie Jean dress, lets all feel beautiful no matter our size, cause really who gives a shit, we are all awesome! Oh and you can sew, so you can just change it to fit you...;)
And don't  think the party is just in the front of the MAE blouse with the scalloped neckline, the button down back is just as lovely. Either way when you wear the MAE blouse your covered both sides with loveliness.

Awesome point 3: Fabric
For my third MAE blouse i went with some light blue gingham, which i had stashed away especially for a MAE. I'm also a bit of a gingham fabric nut, i am drawn to it when i walk into a fabric store...What are you drawn too in a fabric store? Come on, there is always one particular fabric fetish we all have, spill...
 It does suit  a pretty large variety of fabric, just watch the scalloped neckline it does need support, so don't go too flimsy. It is also the best pattern to attack your fabric stash with,the pattern pieces are relatively small and easily get rid of those random stash piece, go on and check your stash pile... ill wait.

Awesome point 4: Seasons = Whatever.
Mae is perfect all year round, no season is going to stop this little blouse, wear it in the warmer weather or throw on your cutest cardigan when it starts to cool down. I find  you can layer a over the blouse and still keep the lovely scalloped neckline in view. I'll be wearing it through the upcoming spring and summer here in Oz.Peeps on the other side of the world, tell the approaching  Fall and winter to eat it **** and just wear it...

Awesome point 5: Beginner sewing level & Speed = Happiness.
This  pattern is also winner for a beginner sewer. You can brush up on your old sewing techniques as well as pick up a few more.With the button down back, tackling the scalloped neckline( see the tutorial here to make life easier) and i think also it would be great  practise with testing the fit, fixing fitting issues, creating the muslin if your so inclined, but the figure hugging fit is essential, so i do recommend making a muslin.
There is nothing worse as well when sewing up a pattern and it takes FOREVER, especially when you first start out sewing, you can loose your momentum faster than a ferret down a hole. So guess what, it is also a quick blouse to sew up, including cutting, fitting, and sewing i think you could get this done in a day and a half, for the more efficient in a day.. easy. Some vintage glam in a day... triple awesome points.

Just to spruce things up a bit for this version of the MAE blouse i added some cute matching buttons.I have a fun little tutorial coming up so you can do this as well for your MAE blouse. It is an easy way to  schmancy it up a bit and make it more of your own. Why not go a bit crazy and create and sew on some contrasting buttons.. Living on the edge...

So all round this pattern is a good egg.

Hope this post inspires those cogs to kick over in the ole sewing part of the brain when it comes to the Mae sewing pattern, its a beauty.

Oh and how convenient is this? You have until this Friday to enter the giveaway to win yourself a copy of the MAE sewing pattern! Real easy to enter just comment on the blog here, and leave your email address and your in the running. Entries close Friday and winner announced Saturday.

Things also may start to get a little bit quiet  in the coming days and weeks, as i am starting to get into the thick of things with the next sewing pattern release, Yep the third pattern for Bluegingerdoll will be released mid-late September. Ill give you a hint, its worn on your bottom half and its oh so  pretty...Ponder that one :)

Abby
xxx

BILLIE JEAN SEW-ALONG # 7 - DRESS 2 - SIDE SEAMS & ATTACH THE BODICE & SKIRT....

Hello again fine sew-along folks! Today's sew-along post will be more focused on Dress 2 of the Billie Jean sewing pattern, which is the full gathered skirt.

Here is a list of all the previous sew-along posts, in case you need to catch up or just a refresher:

#1 - Getting started
#2 -  Full Bust Adjustment
#3 - Assemble the bodice
#4 - Assemble the skirts
#5 - Dress 1 - Bodice to skirt
#6 - Attach the lining

Let's begin!


Step 1 - Dress 2 - Side seams & attach the Bodice shell to the skirt

Open the bodice lining away from the bodice shell. Match the bodice lining and bodice shell rights sides  together separately. Pin in place at side seams. Make sure to align all waist and armhole seams.

Stitch both of the  bodice shell and bodice lining side seams together in one continuous stitch.

Finish both  the bodice shell and bodice lining side seams, again in one continuous line.

 Continue to leave the bodice lining still pulled away from the bodice shell, but for the moment below is  a quick look at the bodice side  seams and what they should look like,  on the outside and inside of the bodice.

Step 2 - Attach the  bodice to the skirt

Right sides together pin the bodice shell to the skirt at the waistline. Again making sure to match  side seams etc.

Stitch the bodice and skirt together at the waistline, starting from the centre back skirt seam. When stitching be careful not to catch any of the skirt gathers as you go. My advice is to stitch slowly across the gathers and hold the skirt a little bit taunt as you stitch.
With finishing the waistline seam, I chose to finish my waistline seam with the over locker, just to give it a little bit more hold due to the weight and amount of gathers in my skirt, but finishing the waistline seam in anyway you like or can is fine. On the inside of the dress, press the waistline seam up towards the bodice.

On the right side of the dress, very lightly press the skirt, by following the  direction  of the skirt gathers up towards the waistline. Don't press the iron down too hard,basically just use the steam from the iron to press the skirt by hovering the iron just above the skirt gathers -  pressing down too hard with the iron will flatten the skirt gathers and they will become limp.

Here is what the finished waistline seam should look like, after  attaching the bodice to the skirt.

Remember at this stage, the bodice lining will still be hanging freely - not yet attached to the waistline, we will be getting to stitching this down very soon.


That's all for today's sew-along post!

Happy sewing!

Abby
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BILLIE JEAN SEW-ALONG # 6 - ATTACH THE LINING - BOTH DRESSES.....

Today's sew-along post we will be attaching our linings to our Billie Jean dresses. This process of attaching the lining applies to BOTH of the Billie Jean dresses i.e Dress 1 is fully lined and Dress 2 only the bodice is lined.


First up here are the last sew-along posts:

#1 - Getting started
#2 -  Full Bust Adjustment
#3 - Assemble the bodice
#4 - Assemble the skirts
#5 - Dress 1 - Attach the bodice to the  skirt 

So here we go, lets attach out linings:

Step - Attaching the lining

 I decided to use the below image, instead of taking photos of this step in the process, as it is a lot clearer to understand the actual  process of attaching the bodice lining to the bodice shell.

With right sides together, lay the bodice lining on top of the bodice shell, this applies to both of the Billie Jean dresses.
 Align all the neckline and armhole edges and pin in place at the neckline and armholes.
Stitch the lining to the bodice shell at the armholes. Then stitch the bodice lining and bodice shell together at the neckline, starting and stopping at least 1/2'' - 1'' away from the bodice back edge to allow for the zipper to be inserted.

Trim the seams at the armholes and neckline.

Turn the entire dress right side out, by pulling the lining through the at the shoulders. This turned out to be incredibly  hard step to photograph, without confusing the process even more! So i do apologise that i don't have an actual photo of this, but the below image shows you the point in the shoulder to pull through the lining. It is a bit of a squeeze, especially when pulling through the whole Dress 1 lining at the shoulders, but it does work, just pull it through slowly!

Once you have the dress and lining right out, you will need to press the neckline and armhole, to get a nice finish. If you like you can top stitch the neckline for a little bit extra fanciness!

That's all folks! Next up is  Dress 2  we will be stitching up the  bodice side seams, and attaching the bodice to your awesome full gathered skirt... its gonna look like a real dress, pretty soon!

Sew-along recap:

Dress 1 - You  should now  have  the dress lining attached at the neckline and armholes, and completely pulled through at the bodice shoulders, and nicely pressed. You will also still  have your side seams left un-stitched and also the centre back skirt seam.

Dress 2 - You should now have your bodice lining attached at the neckline and armholes, and completely pulled through at the bodice shoulders, and nicely pressed. You will have your  bodice shell and lining side seams still  un-stitched.


Check in with your fellow sew-alongers on Twitter using hash tag #billiejeansewalong , Facebook or over on the Flickr group...... I am already starting to see some pretty amazing Billie Jean's being sewn up out in the wild!


Happy sewing!

Abby
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