I've been wanting to move my blog away from Blogspot for a while but could never be bothered to actually do it. This week was the tipping point though, and I've now fully migrated over to https://patsypoomakes.wordpress.com/ . The blogspot address will remain here but all new posts will only appear at https://patsypoomakes.wordpress.com/ . There are lots of reasons for the move but my biggest one is how hard Blogger has made it for people to subscribe to receive new posts via email. It's such a basic requirement but apparently, they think it's too much to offer. I'm basing this purely on how I myself prefer to consume this stuff. I can't be arsed with feed readers anymore and emails are easy and convenient. When I receive one, if I fancy reading it, I will click through to it and, if not, I'll just delete it. Another reason is the spat between Google (owners of Blogger) and Instagram/Facebook/Meta. I don't even know if this is still the case anymore ...
It seems I am feeling motivated enough to keep on blogging, doesn't it? I'll keep riding this wave for as long as I can but I'm not making any promises...
Today I have another shirt to share. Yes, another shirt. No, no one is surprised. But wait... What? Maybe you will be a little bit surprised if I say it's a pattern I haven't made before! Whut? 🤯 Yep, it's the Hey June Handmade Cheyenne Tunic.
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| Hey June Handmade Cheyenne Shirt |
That's right. I've finally moved on to a different shirt and I think it is now my favourite casual, loose-fitting shirt pattern. I will tell you why. Reason number 1: there are several variations. Different sleeves, neckline, length and all sorts of smaller details as well. I'm already planning a v-neck option soon. Reason number 2: the instructions and drafting are outstanding. I've made a few Hey June patterns and they are consistently good and informative. Reason 3: maybe I just needed a change? I mean, I still love the Archer. I've made it 4 times and I will probably make it again in the future but sometimes you need to try something different, you know?
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| Hey June Handmade Cheyenne Shirt - side view |
One thing to note is how wide this neckline is, at least in my opinion. I know I won't be buttoning up this one to the top, but if I did, there's quite a lot of room around the neck. Some people like not having a tight collar, other people might not. If you're one of the latter, keep this in mind to make necessary adjustments.
It's worth mentioning that I managed to cut this out of 1.5m of fabric, even though the pattern calls for 2.75m. However, I had to cut it single layer and had barely anything left at all by the time I was done.
My seams are all flat-felled or frenched. I was having a bit of an off day when it comes to topstitching though and it isn't the best I've ever done. I suspect this may be because the fabric was too lightweight to cope with the thicker needle I needed for the topstitching thread. For that reason, I didn't use a contrast thread all over. I only used it on the contrasting fabric, which I think works really well. My sleeve placket was also done with regular thread because I am not a madwoman... 🤣
The inspiration for this was an oversized chambray shirt I had when I was a teenager in the 90s. I have no photos of it but this picture below was kind of my high school uniform for a while - with a crop top underneath. 🤦♀️
I've wanted a casual, basic, denim shirt for a while but, at the same time, I wanted something not *quite* that basic. I wasn't even looking for the fabric when I found it but I'm very glad I did. I got it from Guthrie & Ghani when I visited with Mel last year. Now, I can't remember what it actually is. I was certain it was a Robert Kaufman cotton but the only similar thing they have is a cotton linen. I'm still certain mine is 100% cotton though.
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| Hey June Handmade Cheyenne Shirt - back view |
This isn't your bog-standard chambray though. For one thing, it is incredibly soft. It almost feels like brushed cotton even though it isn't. The colour is extremely unusual as well. I know nothing about weaving but this looks to be similar to how denim is woven, as in there are 2 different colours of thread. However, one of them is an orange-y, coral-y thread and the other one is blue. Which means the fabric is reversible and I had lots of fun playing with it to showcase both sides.
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| Hey June Handmade Cheyenne Shirt |
It is a nightmare to capture in photos though. No matter what we tried, it always looks blue and grey but I promise you it has an orange tinge to it. You'll just have to trust me on that one. The best description of the colour is a sepia tone. That's what comes to my mind when I look at it and it adds to the faded, worn, old-favourite look I was going for.
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| Hey June Handmade Cheyenne Shirt |
One drawback of it is visible thread runs, particularly on the more orange/lighter colour side. I didn't get any big, noticeable ones and, even if I had, I wouldn't have minded them in this instance but it's something to keep in mind. I have another cut in a different colour so I'll have to be careful.
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| Sleeve Placket |
I'm so glad I finally sewed up this pattern. It had been printed for over a year and I don't even want to think about how long ago I had actually bought it... But I'm definitely going to sew up another very soon.