Amherst Shirt Pattern Review

We love the new Amherst Shirt from Hey June patterns.  If we could sum up the new Amherst Shirt pattern in 3 words, those 3 would be, “Another amazing pattern!”  

The Amherst Shirt is a button down cargo style shirt with integrated sleeve cuffs.  (More on that later…)  It is intended to be sewn in lightweight woven fabrics.  There are 13 sizes and a separate full bust adjustment front piece to be used as needed.  More options are for squared or rounded pockets.  Or you can make a cargo pocket like I did on my shirt!  Find the tutorial on the Hey June Handmade blog.

We sewed up 3 Amherst Shirts!  We’re only sharing 2 in this post…stay tuned for that 3rd one.  (Sneak peek in our Make 9 plans though!)  I actually only had plans to sew up 2 Amherst Shirts, but when Aria saw the pattern and went through my fabric stash, she found some tencel twill that HAD to be sewn into an Amherst Shirt!  

Since she promised to help me out with the cutting and interfacing (my least favorite part!) I agreed to let her use that gorgeous copper tencel twill she found and sew the shirt.  This tencel twill is from Blackbird Fabrics and is amazing quality.  It is a heavier weight than is intended for the pattern, but fit Aria’s vision of the shirt she wanted. 

We cut a straight size 4 for all the shirts, but after Aria tried hers on, she decided she wanted just a little more room through the hips.  So we added a triangle cut out at the side hem.  The tutorial for that is coming next week because it’s really handy and you can even use it for a store-bought shirt.

The other adjustments we made were: 1″ wide shoulder, 2 inches in length on the body, 1.5 inches on the sleeves (mine only) and also we dropped the bottom of the armscye by 1/2″ It turned out to be such a great fit!

Aria is very pleased with this shirt, and it’s exactly as she had pictured it!  Incidentally, she’s wearing it with a skirt she refashioned from a dress!  She’s really choosy about the quality of the clothes she wears because she wears each item often, and keeps a smaller curated wardrobe.  Smart thing!

Amherst Shirt #2 – viscose rayon challis

The 2nd Amherst Shirt is all mine!  I used Navy viscose rayon challis from Fabric.com and it’s so soft and has such amazing drape, that this shirt is going to see tons of wear!  Funny story: Mr. Skirt Fixation asked me where I bought it, so it must be good, right?  (I said, “Same place I buy all my clothes!”)

As I mentioned earlier, I created a cargo pocket for this Amherst Shirt.  I love the contrast of the casual cargo styling and the elegance of the rayon fabric.  It’s a very classy shirt!  (Oh and checking off the 1st of my Make 9 in 2020 plans here…)

The integrated cuff means that the cuff is created by folding the bottom of the sleeve piece in a very specific way so that the inside of the sleeve is as clean/smooth as the outside.  As someone who is very sensitive to the way clothes feel, I could not appreciate this little detail more!  And that button tab is too cute.

With this Amherst Shirt I’m wearing the first Sandbridge Skirt I ever sewed.  (Review here) They make quite a pair!  The exact deep rich navy color of this viscose rayon challis is difficult to capture with the camera and translate to the screen, so you’re going to have to trust me that it’s an amazing fabric on an amazing shirt.  

Now you might be wondering what a loyal Cheyenne Tunic lover like me needs another shirt pattern for?  Each of them are different in enough unique, special ways that there’s room in my closet for both.  Several of both in fact!  

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