To the bleachers! Blue tops and sandy days : The Sandpoint Top : Pattern Testing for GrayDay Patterns

I do love a draped neckline ;)
Over at The Monthly Stitch, a competition was held to choose a brand new indie pattern designer to be mentored and Helena of GrayDay Patterns and her Sandpoint Top were chosen.



When the call for pattern testers went out, I put my hand up as, well, I do love a draped neckline and Helena's strategy of a neckband appealed to my preference for my clothing to stay put & not slip off my shoulders. I'll also confess that I adore V necklines and have sewn them in my Tessuti Alexas and Sewaholic Renfrews, but always get them somewhat wonky, so I was looking forward to Helena's instructions ;)

My V neck turned out ok on the first try

The process of pattern testing was lovely, Helena started a facebook group for us all so we could share our enthusiasms & ask lots of questions, it really built a lovely community and there are some fabulous versions sewn up! I loved that she was open to our suggestions and modifications, the hem band is a really lovely finish for drapey knits, something I'm going to retro-fit on my DrapeDrape1#1 top as I've never been happy with it simply hanging down.

I was especially impressed that Helena modified a large format/copy shop printer version into A0 size to accommodate all of us who live outside the USofA. I took the brand new file down to my local Officeworks who printed it easily (I love it when they don't have to think about fitting it to the paper as it's already drafted to A0), and $4 later I had a printed copy of both versions with all sizes nested.
The Sandpoint Top is drafted for sizes XS-XL (Small bust = 34-35")

I’m a 34.5” high & full bust (curse you forward shoulders!) I did a cheats SBA & cut a size Medium back & below the armholes (front & back), however I cut a size Small front & front armholes. 

I would usually change the front shoulder angle to accommodate my forward shoulders, however I didn’t this time & it fits okay.

I did have some (pleasant) difficulties in choosing a fabric - I wanted a really soft, slinky, collapsible knit for the draped back, yet a more structured knit with good recovery for the V neck... yes, I want an oompa loompa as well...
I felt the aqua knit in my stash was the best of both worlds, and it does work well. This aqua knit is from my one & only GirlCharlee purchase - a cotton rayon spandex with no vertical stretch and 120% (or 3” becomes 8”) horizontal stretch, it’s got quite good recovery, is soft, but doesn’t drape as well as I hoped it would.

Did I mention that it's designed to be reversible?!

Turning the narrow neckstrap inside out in the knit was frustrating, so I swapped it for a contrast synthetic stable knit and swore much less - I do like the contrast band. Whether to place the band on the inner or outer of the shoulders is another question raised in testing and it is a style choice - an external contrast band is striking, especially with contrast neck & sleeve bands! I opted for the more subtle inner application on this version.

Will there be more? - but of course ;) I'm actually looking forward to sizing up and using a slinky soft knit as I will have the neck/shoulder band to stop any wardrobe malfunctions.

The Sandpoint Top was released today and can be purchased at GrayDay Patterns - There's a discount code for 20% off from now until 10/26. The discount code is "firstweek"

All photograph credits to DH as usual - there are some great B&W ones for my next posts!
Isn't the background here fabulous! Bleachers is an American term that I've always loved and I can picture sitting along these benches, cheering my team on. I come from a long family history of attending sporting matches - I was even evacuated onto the hallowed MCG grass when the Ponsford Stand Screen caught on fire during (well, just before) a Carlton & Richmond match back in 1999. I miss wooden benches with the plastic seating of our major stadiums these days and jumped at the chance to show these to DH.
(I've since heard that these are benches as they're in a covered grandstand, however my love for wooden seating remains strong!)

There's a cache here as well and we may have disturbed several geocachers trying to be subtle looking for it in their lunch breaks.
If you like to visit these delightful bleachers, we're at the Maribyrnong Speeedway, Kirjon or Tracey's which operated from 1946 to 1964 and has 2 lovely grandstands.

"A new track was built at an old football ground at Maribyrnong by the Kirjon Speedway Company. 7000 people attended the first Meeting in October 1946 and it was planned to run two Meetings a week on Wednesday and Saturday nights."