Thursday, July 12, 2018

Hey June Phoenix Blouses

Remember that time I was super stressed about selling my house, and decided to channel that frustration into three Hey June Phoenix Blouses in a row?


I am probably the last person who is interested in woven tops, but for some reason the Phoenix really appealed to me when it was released. Even though I prefer knits, I still have lots of lightweight, gorgeous wovens in my stash, and no go-to patterns for them. There's nothing Earth-shattering about the design, but the proportions seemed right for me. Not too much volume. The front yoke wasn't too low. There are sleeves for fall versions. Lots of potential.


My high bust is 31" so I made a size 2. The first version was this chambray polka dot one, fabric is from Robert Kaufmann. I tacked down the corners of the slit on the yoke to prevent flopping. Fit was pretty good, but for the next version I did make alterations.


For this version, I lengthened the pattern 1" (lengthening is a typical alteration for me). I removed 1/2" on the fold from the center back (1" total). I do have narrow shoulders but this change was mostly to reduce the blousing through the bodice, not to fit the shoulders.


The second version is a cotton/linen blend woven from Jo-Ann's, and I cannot say enough about this fabric. It's probably the nicest I've ever bought there. Lovely and soft. It did fray like CRAZY though. After one wash I had to hand-sew the center front slit closed because it had unraveled.


On this version, I also lowered the underarm. I felt like it was way too tight.


I didn't want to interface the slit on this one because I felt like you'd be able to see it through the fabric. Instead, I cut the inside yoke piece on the opposite grain. Unfortunately, you can see the stripes going the opposite direction. I also used a serged rectangle of self-fabric between the layers, but as I mentioned, the fabric frayed anyway. Lesson learned, use interfacing!


After two versions, I felt confident enough to tackle a unicorn hiding in my fabric stash: Nani Iro double gauze. I got this ages and ages ago with a gift certificate after contributing an article to a blog. And yeah, sorry, it is just as lovely as everyone always says!


I stuck with the changes above but also screwed around with the underarm and side seam even more. Now, it's way over-fitted. I think I should go back to the original and redraw the underarm and side seam from there. The above is the only photo I have in the Nani Iro version, from my oldest daughter's Kindergarten graduation (wahhhhh). I look a little pregnant, right? (I'm not.) I lengthened the pattern and graded it out slightly around the hips. It's a little tight around the hips, which is causing it to ride up a little and give that pregnant look. Honestly, despite the cost of the fabric, I may cut it down to a shirt. I'd hate for this to hang in the closet the same way the fabric hung out in my stash.


If you like woven tops and don't have a pattern like this already, I can definitely recommend the Phoenix. The instructions were great and I somehow managed not to royally screw up the front yoke corners on any of my versions. It's a quick sew too! Working on these three items helped me keep my sanity while we were going through home inspections and all those kinds of stressful things. And now look, I get to live HERE on this amazing property. Yes, I'm standing in our very own creek. Gorgeous, right??

3 comments:

  1. Congratulations on your new home! And your shirts are all awesome. I love woven tops in the summer.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I saw that fabric at JoAnn's and almost bought it! I get my interfacing here:

    https://www.fashionsewingsupply.com/product_info.php?products_id=41

    Great post!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love that white and blue fabric. So cute!

    ReplyDelete

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