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
As soon as the Fairmount pattern was released last year, I bought it. I know there have been a few similar overshirts around for a while but the Fairmount was the one that stood out for me. Plus, Hey June Handmade patterns are some of my favourites and they're so well drafted that there was no question this was the overshirt for me.
It took me a while to settle on the fabric. I have a terracotta jumbo cord I bought to make this as well but I wasn't totally convinced. I ordered this Robert Kaufman Mammoth Flannel over Christmas and it was the perfect fabric for it. It's so cosy and snuggly. The pattern is expertly drafted for substantial fabrics as well. The way the collar and front placket are finished is great for combating bulky seam intersections. No lumpy bits to turn over when trying to hem it. 🙌
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| See what I mean? Look at how smooth it is where the placket meets the collar! 😍 |
I only ordered 2.5m of the fabric and, although I managed some fairly decent pattern placement and matching, I wish I had 3m to play with so I could have centred the plaid at the back and front of the shirt. But I'm really nitpicking here because I'm super happy with how it turned out.
According to my bust measurement, I should've made a size 4 but I didn't want to be swamped by it so I went with a size 2 instead. It was a very good move as the fit is still pretty oversized but I do think anymore and it would've been too much for my personal taste. I made no changes to the pattern at all.
One of my favourite things about it is the big patch pockets and the way they come together. Well, the flaps are the best bit for me. They're so cute and fun to make. It did make my head hurt trying to work out how to cut all these pieces as mirror images of each other, but I nailed it and all that headache was well worth it.
The instructions were excellent. I've not yet met a Hey June pattern instruction I didn't love, so that isn't exactly shocking. I was particularly impressed with the front placket/collar instructions and no, I won't stop going on about that collar. Anyway, the explanation and illustrations are spot-on and very clear. I did check the pictorial on their website (there's a link in the instructions) but only to make sure I had understood what I was supposed to do.
In conclusion, here is yet another Hey June pattern about which I have nothing but good things to say. Seriously, if you haven't made one of them yet, you need to get on it.