The year of the book,

I hope everyone has all had a good christmas.  We've had a busy time, lots of traveling and visiting, and also lots of snow.

2011 is a big year for me as in April my craft pattern book comes out. I think, business wise, that has to be the most exciting and yet nerve wracking venture I've undertaken so far.

Swan pattern from the book

When I submitted the proposal for my initial book idea, I was so pleased when it was as well received as it was.  Given the passion I have for designing and making Softies, it's easy to assume everyone else will feel the same way, which left me quite anxious when putting together the ideas for a full book of Softie patterns designed from animals of the British countryside to an American publisher!

The whole process has been a very valuable experience, one which I'm sure I will be blogging about often.  Out of all the chapters in the book, it was the 'how to' part which became the most difficult to break down.  I was reminded of this the other day, by Abby Glassenberg, who also has a book out, and is posting on her blog a fascinating series all about the mechanics of creating a Softie.  The issue I had with the instructions was whether to have a section at the beginning which covered all the construction techniques, or to keep this information within each individual pattern.  I chose to have a section at the front, to avoid unnecessary repetition.  This does mean that if you were to make anything from the book, there is a little cross referencing to do, but as many of the processes are used over and over, once you've sewn one Softie, it all starts to make sense.

Writing a craft pattern book is all about making choices.  I chose the write my book in a certain way, whether or not my choices suit everyone, well I guess only time will tell once it comes out and begins to get reviewed.

Happy New Year!