A Polka ‘Cheyenne Tunic’ by Hey June Handmade … and a little bit about French Seams

Hello again!

I seem to be on something of a blogging roll!! I finally got around to cutting out this Cheyenne Tunic by Hey June Handmade; I’d been meaning to sew it for weeks only I succumbed to ‘the fever’ that was sewing my Luzerne Trench Coat instead. But now I’ve sewn one Cheyenne, let me just cut to the chase and say I want half a dozen more of them!

This is the third pattern I’ve sewn from the Hey June catalogue (see their Halifax Hoodie and the Kensington dress I made for my daughter) and again I’m really pleased with the attention to detail in their drafting and instructions. This is such a wearable top! In fact I’ve just ordered some more of this gorgeously soft viscose in the teal colourway to crack on with making a second.

I also think Hey June’s patterns are relatively reasonably priced; especially given that they quite often contain multiple Views plus almost Sewing School level tips and instructions, so you’re getting quite a lot in ‘one envelope’. This Tunic, for example, also comes as a relaxed fit shirt too, which I can also see myself making. This time though, I opted for View B with the dropped collar and three quarter length tabbed sleeves and patch breast pockets.

The only time I deviated from the instructions was in relation to the French seams. The instructions have you sew the initial seam at 3/8″, trim it back to 1/8″ then sew the second seam to enclose the first at 2/8″. Maybe it’s just me but I find doing the widest seam first, even after it’s trimmed back, just means that I’m all the more likely to have the fraying edge of the first seam poking through my second. Do you know what I mean? So I don’t do that, I sew the first seam at 2/8″ then trim to 1/8″ and sew my second enclosing seam at 3/8″. I never have any issues that way.

This is actually a make for the Minerva Craft Blogger Network, so my full review post plus links to the supplies I used can be found following this link.

Until next time, stay happy 😊

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