Completed: The Green Mae

I seem to be on a roll with second makes. I've worn my vintage inspired Mae a few times and it is definitely one for the office. However, I wanted those scallops to be available for play as well as work.  Recently, I was washing a piece of cotton I picked up from a local charity shop for about £6. I was drawn to the bottle green with the black scribble and the print (African?) at the bottom. Originally I thought it would become a skirt but then I realised that it would make a perfect weekend Mae.

I tinkered slightly with the fit from my first. I feel a little uncomfortable wearing my vintage inspired one untucked as it is a little too big at the hips. I also wanted to make the most of the print so I took this one in a little and it fits much better. However, it seems that I have accidentally put some stress on the back and there is a quite a pull on the buttonholes at the middle of my back. I think I will need to let the seams out a little to see if it makes any difference. I raised the sleeve opening a tad and they are much less likely to reveal what bra I am wearing - a risk that is constant in the other one!

With the help of Twitter, I chose to use the iridescent buttons from my stash over the smaller pale green ones I was also considering. They change from cream to green to brown or some combination of and provide a nice contrast to the dark colours of the fabric. 

I was a little lazy with the seams and finished them by overlocking. My overlocking foot is broken, one of the metal guides has fallen off meaning the finished result isn't as neat as before but I can live with it. Just. Must get on and research that overlocker... Amazingly I didn't need to hem the blouse as the fabric doesn't fray. 

I had hoped to pattern match all the way round but I didn't quite have enough fabric. Either the sides, or the back could match. I opted to match the pattern at the back, as I think pattern matching is less noticeable at the sides, especially when you are only matching one section.

This blouse turned out how I hoped it would, except for the back, which is disappointing. It means that I like this blouse, rather than love it. I probably should have made another toile to check the alteration. I hope I can fix it as this could be a weekend/evening staple which I'm currently lacking. Have you ever tinkered with a pattern that fitted only to find an unexpected fitting issue?