Mae by Abbey....

 

 

Remember this gorgeous Mae blouse that won the Mae sew-along and contest? It was sewn up by the gorgeous Abbey from  Sewcharleston. Abbey's Mae blouse definitely caused a raucous stir among the sewing community when the voting begun. Some hearts definitely started racing with Abbey's choice of fabric for her Mae blouse.. Absolutely divine and so well suited to the Mae blouse  a match made in heaven.

Abbey was kind enough to answer a few questions for me about her sewing experience with the Mae blouse, and basically her Mae blouse is sooo beautiful  not to share again with you folk so take it away Abbey!

What type of fabric did you use? What inspired your choice of fabric?

I used a quilting weight cotton by Anna Maria Horner. The fabric is called Social Climber in Teal. I chose this fabric because I felt it had a vintage feel to it and the Mae blouse is a vintage inspired pattern. This is my fabric quilting weight cotton to date and I think it was perfect for the Mae. I also wanted to use a fabric that I have a lot of confidence sewing with, since sewing scallops was a new skill for me. The scallops were surprisingly easy, especially with the scallop tutorial on the Bluegingerdoll blog. 

 

* Did your  Mae blouse  live up to the image you had in your mind?

My Mae blouse is EXACTLY how I envisioned it. I actually first envisioned it with fabric covered buttons, but then I found these red buttons. The red buttons really stand out, which helps draw more attention to this beautiful detail. I was also afraid the quilting weight cotton would be too stiff for a blouse, but since the Mae is a fitted blouse I think it works just fine.

*How did you decide to reflect your personal style in the pattern?

I love floral fabric (probably a little too much), s0 the roses trailing down this blouse pretty much sum up my personal style....FLOWERS! One of the reasons I love sewing my own wardrobe is that I won't pass someone on the street or at work wearing the same outfit as me. The Mae blouse takes the uniqueness of sewing your own clothes up to a whole other level with it's scalloped neckline. When have you ever come across a scalloped neckline like this? I love it! I think Bluegingerdoll needs to make a long-sleeved version and a dress. I need more scallops in my life!

*Tell us a bit about your making process, any tweaks you made? 

The only tweak I made was to complete a SBA. This was a new skill for me and something I thought was way over my sewing level. Abby posted a tutorial on how to complete a SBA and FBA on her blog. I gave it a try thinking I was going to fail miserably, but it worked!

* What thoughts do you have about the project?

I learned 2 new skills with this pattern, how to sew scallops and how to complete a SBA.The tutorials posted for the sew along were so detailed and helpful that I feel like I took a sewing class for free!

 

*Are you planning any future Mae Blouses?

 I have quite a few plans for future Mae Blouses. I would like to make one out of chambray to go with all the different coloured skinny jeans I own. This pattern only uses 1 1/2 yards of fabric, which I have a lot of in my fabric stash right now. I can't wait to stash bust with the Mae! It's finally cooling down here in Charleston, so you probably won't be seeing my Mae blouses until next spring. 

 

You must go and check out Abbey's blog she is sewing up a storm over there and has the most beautiful handmade wardrobe ever!

 

 

 Thank you Abbey!