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Here is the current cover for the third pattern I am working on finishing for the next One Yard Wonders book, which I am also planning on releasing in my Etsy store, otherwise I wouldn’t need a cover. Anyway. Currently it is too busy. Do you think it is too busy? But I had so much fun rearranging the toppings on the cake. They velcro on you see.
So far this pattern is 14 pages long, not including the 8 pages of pattern pieces. There are a lot of pictures, it isn’t that it is particularly complicated. Very simple really. But there is the cake, and then the blueberries, and then the strawberries and frosting puffs which at least use the same construction and thus the same instructions. Lots of pages.
You can see I ended up with simple frosting puffs, not any of the super tailored ones I was contemplating. I think this was #2 of 11, or something ridiculous like that. Thus my usual lazy approach of liking my work after 1, 2 or 3 tries is somehow vindicated… Maybe?
I realized as I was staring at too many pictures of fabric cakes today that it should have a book pocket on the bottom. But I can’t change it now. I put in a ‘variation’ suggestion in the pattern, but I can’t contemplate re-doing it again, I just can’t, after working on these three projects really hard for almost four months now I would like to be really truly done! Okay, not descending into the pit of insanity. Not revisiting pattern, moving along, keep looking forwards.
Photographing this pattern was really challenging, because the cake is so big. The first time I did it badly. The second time when I was making the sample for the book I realized I was going to have to re-shoot it, and I actually made a (sloppy) cardboard form that I could fold up and insert through the turning opening, unfold, and support the inside out cake so I could take a sensible picture of it. Or possibly I am too much of a visual perfectionist? The cover would be less busy if I went in and digitally removed the not-exactly-white sheet from the background, but as the Gimp just practically wrecked my hard drive I am out of digital retouching options since my ancient copy of Photoshop doesn’t run anymore. I am *trying* not to be too much of a visual perfectionist, but that sheet does really bug me. Does the sheet bug you too? I mean, jeeze, I know I was in a rush, but at least I could have ironed the sheet… Or, really, since I got it in the mail only minutes before I had to leave for my daughters camp art show on the last day before flying across the country, maybe I really didn’t have time. It’s possible.
So do you think that cover is too busy? Probably? I’m sure if I let it sit in the back of my brain for a day or two that something better will come out. (Please?) There’s plenty of photo re-doing that I need to do for the rest of the pattern to keep me busy in the mean time!
8 Comments
Add Yours →Hey Katherine, this cushion looks amazing and very appetizing. You are right though, there is something about the cover… Are we seeing the cake a little too many times? I know the patterns of the fruits/frostings puffs are different but still… The bottom line looks nice, the middle picture with the cushion “in action” is good, maybe a bit bigger? Maybe more of “in context” pics?
Yes, too busy. So now there are MORE cakes, but they are smaller. 🙂 And the central images are more of a focus.
I like the cover, but I agree with Fred’s suggestions.
Yes, so do I. 🙂
oh and by the way, I thought about it for a while: without a book pocket is perfectly fine I think. It would look odd aaaaand, what if the cake cushion isnt used for reading but rather to lie on while chatting with friends, then little hands that need to keep busy could just toy with the pocket, and possibly even tearing it away… Maybe I am exagerating… Anyway, I like it WITHOUT pocket 😉
Since it is a pattern you can take or leave the pocket. It wouldn’t interfere with the visual design, because if the cake was right side up, looking like cake, it would be on the bottom, but when the cake is on end, for leaning against, that side is accessible. It might get in the way of lounging, if there was a large hard book in it, I don’t know… The cake I made as a book sample only had about half the stuffing my first cake did, so you might feel if there was a book in a pocket, if it was larger than a paperback. But the first pillow is stuffed within an inch of its life, so I don’t think you would notice a book in a pocket unless you were trying to.
I had not thought of that, of course one can choose to add it or not 😀 – so you will be adding it to your final pattern, won’t you?
What do you fill your cake with? Wadding or small styropor beads (not sure of the proper English word for that) ?
Well, it is just a note or suggestion in the pattern, it would suck up my life for several weeks if I was going to go back and re-make and re-shoot everything with a pocket.
This one is stuffed with polyester fiber fill, the fluffy plastic version of wool. I think it would be more square and crisp if you used the 2″ soft foam sheets you can get for making cushions, but it was so expensive I didn’t want to pay for it, even just to line the sides. I think it is about $30 for a 2’x2′ square here…