Santa Fe Top Review

I’ve got a new favorite top, to sew and to wear! It’s the Santa Fe by Hey June Handmade. Since I love everything I’ve sewn from this company, I was pretty sure the Santa Fe was going to be a win too. Just to be safe I made a muslin first. I used some charcoal bamboo knit fabric from Cali Fabrics.

This fabric is light, and swingy, and just perfect for this pattern.  I had never sewn a neckline with binding instead of a band, and I really like the clean finish. The cuffs on the arms have a similar clean finish. In fact, everything on the inside of this shirt is so clean and finished that I accidentally wore it inside out the other day…and no one noticed!

I made view C and the only change I made for the muslin was to lengthen the dolman sleeves by about 2 inches to accommodate for my wide shoulders.

Like all Hey June Handmade patterns we’ve sewn, this one is easy to follow.  The illustrations are drawn and the instructions are clear and complete.  It can be made in 7 sizes from XS to 2X.  There are 6 different variations you could make.

After making this muslin, I decided to make another Santa Fe Top the next day! The only change I made for fit was to raise the neckline by about 1 inch and shorten the binding accordingly. I used some cheap knit fabric I picked up at Hancock Fabric’s going out of business sale. It’s lightweight and only has two way stretch, which makes it another great fit for this pattern.

For a little Anthro-esque touch, I added a strip of blue lace down the front seam. I polled my sewing friends on Instagram before adding it, and there was overwhelming support for this idea. One of my sewing friends suggested adding the lace to the raglan sleeves of view F, and since I absolutely love this idea, I guess I’ll be making another Santa Fe Top soon!

You might have noticed I left both the hems of these Santa Fe Tops raw edges.  This is for 2 reasons.  1: knit fabric doesn’t fray, so no hemming needed.  2: my double needle is currently in time out for not meeting my expectations for hem perfection.  I knew the situation wouldn’t improve with thin fabrics.

Here’s what I love about the fit of the Sante Fe top: it hugs your curves, and then flares out for a looser fit around the waist and hips. The result is about the most comfortable shirt ever. I’ve been wearing one or other of these every week!
So if you’ve got some cheap lightweight knit fabric laying around that you purchased before you knew what you were doing when buying knit fabric (not that I’d know anything about that, ahem!) turn it into some Santa Fe Tops! You can thank me later.

Oh, and the Halifax Hoodie is currently the featured pattern which means it’s on sale, so grab it too while you’re at Hey June Handmade.  You’re going to need it this fall!

Affiliate links are used in this post.  I would have been using them on all Hey June Handmade posts before this, but I just recently realized they have an affiliate program!  I’m just telling you this in case you are opposed to helping support my fabric habit, and don’t want to click on any links.