Phew – it's been nearly a month since the launch of
the Southbank sweater, and I've been so thrilled with the response! The launch coincided with a few new stockists coming on board and I ended up having to reprint the physical pattern almost immediately. Doing my first major reprint of patterns, and also receiving my first stockist re-order, felt like a real shift; the business is starting to outgrow its current workflow (which is very labour intensive), a development that's both daunting and satisfying! So I've been planning this post for basically a month now, but manically assembling and shipping patterns, celebrating two family birthdays and having a painful and limiting shoulder injury have all slowed me down somewhat. Excuses, excuses...!
I had another really great group of testers for the Southbank, and I wanted to do a proper round-up here on the blog to show you the lovely versions they've made.
Sarah (@sewingbeautifully) and
Athina's (@athinakakou) versions both look so snuggly and yet so stylish! You can read
Athina's blog post about her version here.
Great minds think alike! I just love the blue/turquoise shades and stunning prints that
Thao (@littlecumquat) and
Eleanor (@nelnanandnora) chose for their versions.
I just love this photo of
Renata (@runningnstyle) in her Southbank dress – it's such a perfect choice of autumnal setting (in Wisconsin, US!) and of course of fabric! Renata is co-hosting
The Little Red Dress Project over on Instagram at the moment and I'm one of the sponsors.
Version 2 is so simple and yet fabric choice makes it so varied and versatile.
Amy (@amymore10) went for chic block black,
Simona (@draculashbv) for a bold floral, and
Kate (@katerelton) for classic stripes. Check out
Simona's blog post here.
I just knew that everything was going to be ok with this pattern when three of my testers came back having made multiple versions! Naomi made two versions of version two!
Mirjam (@miushkamiushka) surprised me by making version 1 AND version 2! I absolutely adore her choice of contrast cuffs and collar for V2.
Last but definitely not least were the fantastic version 3 testers. Version 3 underwent the most significant post-testing changes so I'm especially grateful to these ladies (and also
@catsews) for their detailed feedback.
Rhiannon (@rhiannonbrum) told me she loved the pattern, and I feel like this photo adequately reflects that! That green is also such a perfect shade for her. As is the yellow chosen by
Vicki (@sewvee); she's such a bright person (with a great eye for colour) so it suits her to a T. And whilst I still haven't quite worked out what the print
Annie (@scavengerannie) chose represents (is it owls? binoculars? some other kind of cute triangular animal?!) I think it and she look great, as does her excellent wallpaper!
Well, looking at all these again has made me feel all warm and fuzzy. The testing process is so daunting and yet so rewarding (at least when it goes right!), and that's particularly down to the generosity and kindness of pattern testers. I'm already working on new designs for the new year, so will have this whole process to go through again before too long, fingers crossed! x
