My Cheyenne Cup of Tea <<< A Floral Flavored Gingham

It is so great when you find the perfect top and then realize that you can actually make the same top over and over again in as many colors and fabrics that you can possibly find.

The Cheyenne Tunic is truly my cup of tea.  It is comfortable, it is versatile, and flattering all at the same time.  It also has just enough part and pieces to it that you can really give it your own flair.

I began, thinking that I would make the tunic in all black and white gingham.  I was given tons of the fabric and thought it would be a good place to start.  I started cutting it all out, intending to make a long sleeved top.  As I laid out the sleeves with the body, I realized it was just way too much black and white checkers for me.

So, I went on the hunt through my stash for something to complement the fabric and found a beautiful, colorful, cheery floral.  When I put them next to one another I knew it was meant to be...

It suddenly felt like the piece came alive by adding a little coral here and a little yellow there.  I ended up with splashes of color on the front placket, the top of the back, and the sleeves.

The Cheyenne Tunic pattern is from Hey June!  This is the second pattern I've used from Hey June.  The first was the Sloan Leggings, which is also a great pattern.  I blogged about them in my last post.

The pdf pattern file is set up nicely so that you can print just the size(s) that you want to make.  The instructions were also really clear.  I referred to the sew along tutorial on the Hey June website for most of it as well.  The actual pictures taken of the process really helped, especially when it came time to do the plackets.

The biggest challenge that I ran into had to do with the fabric and sleeves.  I began by cutting the long sleeve version.  However, when I tried it on and tried to roll up the long sleeves, it became too tight to roll the fabric up all the way up to use the button tab.  The two issues I found were that the fabric was a bit thick and I am also a tall person.  I probably should have lengthened the sleeves from the very beginning.

By the time I realized it wasn't going to work, I had already cut both sleeves.  I also realized that I would probably be wearing the top with the sleeves rolled up all of the time anyway, so I just cut it back to the 3/4 sleeve line.  Here's the picture of the cut.  By the way, the little floral accent was a nice way to hide the stitching from the sleeve tab on the underside of the sleeve.

Cutting sleeve back to 3/4 sleeve (good bye to my beautiful placket!)

The 3/4 sleeve was still a bit short for my arm - it hit me pretty much at the elbow.  In order to make the cuff more comfortable, I lengthened it and just overlapped it.  Next time, I plan to cut a longer sleeve and also grade the sleeve from medium to large in order to widen the lower part of the arm.

Another adjustment I made was to leave off the buttons on the front placket.  I really liked the look of just having the solid pretty fabric without the muddling of buttons and button holes.  I just sewed the placket up part of the way so it is still possible to get it on and off.
 

The Cheyenne Tunic is definitely going to become a staple for me as it can be made in all sorts of fabrics.  I have a similar top that I bought which has a rayon sort of front and knit for the back and sleeves.  It is so comfortable.  I'd love to make more of them and plan to soon!