Cheyenne with Pussy Bow Collar Hack

Hey guys! Okay, if you’re part of the sewing community chances are you have heard of the Cheyenne Tunic by Hey June; your classic button up collared shirt pattern. (It also comes in a tunic version too). Recently while browsing through the mall a few weeks ago I saw a white and black window pane flannel button up shirt with a pussy bow collar. I loved the look and catalogued it in my mind under “things to make”. A week later, Allie from Indiesew added thee exact fabric to her shop. (Okay, I don’t know if it’s the EXACT fabric but it might as well be). I purchased the yardage needed, and got to work. (The fabric is currently sold out). In this post I’m going to walk you through how to take your cheyenne sewing pattern and add a pussy bow collar. I love how this version of the cheyenne pattern looks tucked into jeans, overalls, skirts, or even underneath dresses. There are a lot of wardrobe options with this top!

Let’s get started!

Ookay bear with me, I kind of figured this out as I went along, but it turned out great.

For your collar pieces, you will need one rectangle that measures 22″ long by 5″ wide (the collar) and two rectangles cut on the BIAS measuring 25″ long by 5″ wide (the ties).

So first we need to attach the center front placket. Instead of leaving the top of the placket unfinished at the neckline, we need to finish it. Make sure to add a 1/2″ to the top of your placket pieces to allow us to do this. Before topstitching the collar on, fold the top of the placket right sides together and sew along the top at 1/2″ to enclose. Now you can topstitch around the whole placket. Unfortunately I didn’t take photos of this step, but this is how it should look:

*your neckline should be 1/2″ higher than your placket in order to sew the collar on. (Mine doesn’t look very good here, again I was figuring it out as I went along, don’t judge!).

Continue along to step 25.

Next we need to prep the collar. Sew the tie pieces to either edge of the collar, right sides together at 1/2″. Press the seam open.

Now, fold the tie in half, right sides together. I finished my ends with a slight slant. I used a marking pen to draw the slant on the wrong side of the fabric.

Sew along the the edges at 1/2″, and along the slant at the ends. Obviously, you’ll want to end your slant about 1/2″ from the bottom point, don’t do what I did. Trim your seam, and clip into the neckline seam right before where your stitching started. Turn the ties right sides out. Press.

Pin the outside of the collar piece to the right side of the neckline, and sew at 5/8″. (the inside collar edge should be free of the seam. Press the seam allowance towards the collar. Now, iron the inside collar raw edge in at 5/8″, and pin in place covering the stitches along the inside of the neckline.

Now, flip the shirt back to the right side, and top stitch along the collar edge, removing pins as you go.

There you have it! Not so bad, right?

From there, finish the shirt as the pattern instructs. I shortened my shirt by 2″ so it would be easier to tuck the shirt in to my high waisted jeans. I noticed the Madewell top was also shorter too. I omitted the pockets as well. I usually cut my plackets and pockets on the bias (because it’s so much easier than pattern matching!), but this time I cut everything along the grain and pattern matched everything. Oh, one more thing. Don’t do what I did, and make sure to sew your sleeves onto the right sides. Oops. It’s not the first time either.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial, and found it helpful! Thanks for reading along, and happy sewing! I would love to see your cheyenne pussy bow collar hacks, make sure to tag me on Instagram @thesaraproject_ if you share!