plaid flannel cheyenne tunic

Well, my nursery is finished but my "nesting" instinct hasn't evaporated yet. I'm channeling my creative energy into some last-minute home projects (just bought a new rug for the living room), but I've mostly been sewing in my free time. Since my summer will probably be spent in stretchy shorts and loose t-shirts, I've made a couple items for fall. I hope I'm up to the challenge of wearing real clothes by then.

First up is this Cheyenne Tunic in plaid flannel. A couple years ago, I made a chambray version of view B, a popover style with 3/4 sleeves, but I decided to try out the button-down (button-up?) view A this time. I was a bit intimidated by the idea of sewing a collar and collar stand, but it came together pretty easily.

I love the suggestion to cut the button plackets, pockets, and outer yoke on the bias. It adds a fun detail to have the plaid on the diagonal and gives an added bonus of not having to perfectly match plaids on all the seams. I also cut the collar stand facing on the bias for a little fun detail inside the shirt.

The fabric is a green plaid flannel from fabric.com. I don't think it's possible for a yarn-dyed fabric to be "off grain," but this was certainly a bit distorted, probably from when I washed it. I kept having to adjust the fabric while cutting so that the pattern pieces would line up square to the plaid. Even though my cut pieces looked a little distorted, it was easy to keep everything lined up while sewing using the plaid as my guide. I'm glad I took my time when cutting. (Also, I did not realize how perfectly I pattern-matched one of the sleeve plackets until I was looking at these photos. I assure you that was entirely unintentional.)

After sewing the French seams on the sides, I was worried that the shirt might be a bit too snug across the bust. It was measuring smaller than the finished garment size on the pattern, so I was probably a little too generous on my side seam allowances. I took out the side seams and sewed/serged them instead, which added a little extra room. It at least fits my dress form nicely now! (Not sure why I'm particularly concerned about being able to button this shirt, since I often wear flannel shirts unbuttoned over a t-shirt anyways.)

The buttons are standard black shirt buttons from JoAnn. My only trips from the house the last couple weeks have been to the doctor's office for check-ups and to JoAnn for buttons and thread. Dan said he's seen less and less people wearing masks at the grocery store, but JoAnn customers still seems pretty dedicated to mask-wearing. I bet they're all secretly thinking, "I spent HOURS sewing these darn things and by gosh I'm going to WEAR THEM." I'm hoping to get as much wear out of this shirt in the fall as I am currently getting out of the mask Mom made me!