The Hickory & Spice Henley is home from One Thimble! To celebrate, both this pattern and the Basilica Skirt (also newly here!) are on sale for 20% off! There is no coupon needed, and the sale goes through this Saturday (April 14, 2018).
Want to make the Hickory & Spice Henley a quicker sew? This past Christmas, I wanted to make one of these shirts for each of my three girls. It was almost Christmas by the time I got to that project on my list, so I decided to speed up the process by making their henleys into faux henleys.
Here’s how you can whip up your own faux henleys in no time flat!
When sewing a faux placket, you need to cut out only the longer of the two placket pieces. You don’t need as much fabric for the faux placket, so trim off 1/2” (1.27cm) from each long side. Those lines are already marked with notches, so that’s super easy!
Go ahead and clip the center notch on the top and bottom.
Fold the two long edges of the placket to the center. Press. Then fold up the bottom edge 1/2” (1.27cm). Press again.
While you’re pressing, go ahead and press a light crease down the center front of the shirt.
Using the shirt’s center front crease as a guide, line up the folded placket piece down the center of the shirt, with the placket’s cut edges facing the shirt and matching the top edge to the neckline. Pin or baste into place.
(I’ve also removed the color blocking for this particular version of the Hickory & Spice Henley. For that tutorial, go here.)
Carefully topstitch around the edges of the faux placket. Remember that you can use a straight stitch, as this will not need to stretch.
Go ahead and sew on any buttons or other non-functional closures. This helps it look legit. 😉
Next, you’ll sew the shoulder seams and prep the neckband as the pattern directs.
In the original pattern, the ends of the neckband get neatly tucked inside the placket pieces. Since there isn’t an “inside” anymore, simply pin the ends on top of the placket like so. The second side will go on top of the first in the same way.
Be sure to check which way the overlap should go! I’m always getting the boy’s overlap and the girl’s overlap switched if I’m not following my own instructions. (Silly me.)
(The fabric I used here is pretty stiff, and that curve there at the top of the placket isn’t going to line up very well with the raw edge of the neckline. It’s not a problem, though; if your fabric is like this, too, just match it up at the notch and end, and trim off the excess fabric after you sew the neckband on.)
Otherwise, sew on the neckband like in the original pattern.
And there you go! I love whipping out a quick faux henley placket when sewing time is limited (which, honestly, is most of the time). What do you think? Are you Team Real or Team Faux?
I hope you’ve enjoyed the Hickory & Spice Henley pattern hacks! I love all the ways this one pattern can be customized, altered, and made uniquely yours. I’m excited to see what you come up with! Share your creations with #OrangeDaisyPatterns, #HickoryandSpiceHenley and @orangedaisypatterns (on Instagram) so I can marvel at your amazingness!
Here are the pattern hack tutorials, in case you missed them!
Faux Layered Sleeves
Changing the Color Blocking on the Hickory & Spice Henley
Happy sewing!