Two posts in one week? ๐ฑ What’s gotten in to me?
Today I am sharing my Phoenix Blouse dress by Hey June Handmade patterns. I first came to know about Hey June via Instagram when everyone was sharing their Phoenix Blouse. And when Loni, from Having Sew Much Fun, announced that she was looking for makers for Hey June June, I quickly signed up.
Note: Adrianna was kind enough to provide this pattern for free.
The pattern is great for hacking. In fact, I just heard Adrianna on a Love to Sew Podcast and she mentioned that she wants people to hack her patterns. The Phoenix blouse features a front yoke which provides the perfect place to add lace or embroidery details.
I used the flower that is on the skirt fabric to draw out this flower on the yoke, to help tie it all together.
With that in mind, I set to recreate a dress (see below) that I bought second hand, and love wearing. Its one of the few ready to wears that fits me so nicely, and it has a elastic waistband that pulls the dress in exactly where I want it to.
Measuring the RTW dress helped me figure out how long I needed to make the blouse portion. Then set to cutting the front and back bodice. Both front and back yokes were untouched.
Lessons Learned
- Think before you cut! The back and front bodice pieces have different lengths, there was about 2″ in difference. I should have curved the sides of the back to match the length of the front.
- Read all instructions for Hey June Patterns. Adrianna does things a bit differently and they are well written .. if one were to read them in advance.. ๐ I missed the part when doing the yoke burrito to sew the back neckline closed as well as the shoulder seams. Had to fudge that one. Oops!
- Sometimes you can forgo a muslin. I know, I’ve said that you should muslin – but this dress was going to be loose fitting with a lot of positive ease. Which meant, no muslin. Time saver!
- Batch steps together. It helps to pin as many seams as you can or sew in all the gathering stitches together. It saves time!
- Be creative! I didn’t have any piping rope for my piping so I doubled some jewelry making string and zig-zagged it to keep it together.
Fabric
I had this lovely organic yarn dyed crepe from D&H Fabrics that Tammy had gifted at a sewing meetup last July. I knew it would be a perfect canvas for some embroidery.
I also had a skirt from Target that I had gotten in clearance to make pants out of, but that didn’t happen so it sat in my fabric stash for 2 years. It is a similar crepe type fabric and the colors went so well together. The way I saw it, I would pair the two if they were separates, so why not make a dress with both.
Modifications
- Size: Started at a size 12 and graded to 18
- Length: Shortened the front bodice to 16.5″ and back to 14.5″
- Sleeves: Bought the Amalfi Dress and used the short sleeves from there. Removed the gathers from the sleeve and took in some of the width to have a closer fit.
- Construction: The instructions in the Amalfi Dress were perfect for making the elastic casing between the skirt and bodice.
- Yoke: I added piping to the edges of the yoke – with a bit of difficulty. But I love the look!
Overall Review
I am really impressed with how Hey June patterns are written and sized. The instructions are so clear. You will come out with a wonderfully constructed garment at the end. I mean look at this inside!
I loooove this pattern and have plans to make another dress just like this. I hope to have it done before the end of June.
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Some links contained in this post may be affiliate links, which means I get a small commission if you purchase through these links and helps keep this blog running. I was provided with the pattern but all opinions are my own.