When is an Otter, not an Otter?

When I was designing the patterns for the book, on the whole they came together very easily.  I guess my 12 years with Coats Crafts UK came in handy here.  There is a knack to putting together a project which is intended to be made by other people, and when I'm doing the sewing part, in the back of my mind I'm making note of how straight forward it is on the basis of if I'm finding it hard to work, then I need to think of a simpler way.

It's not that I'm dumbing down the projects (which, as an aside, I did find the recent 'dumbing down of quilting' debate really interesting, that's a blog post all in itself, maybe next week when the kids are back at school), it's more a case of designing in a way that can be easy to explain in words, in a way that appeals and looks achievable to both novice and more experienced sewers, and in a way that brings each animal to life with a quirky character while retaining some realism.

The Otter was the one I struggled with the most.  It was because of him, the decision was made to code each project with a guide (easy, moderate, slightly tricky).  He's 'slightly tricky'.  Not because the Otter is hard to make, it's just he has more separate body parts, so there is more to join together which means it'll take a bit longer to complete.   When I first began designing him, I went for a horizontal body position,

which once I'd finished, decided didn't work.  He just didn't look Otter-like enough, his face was too narrow which made him look too ratty.  This version has been living on Lucy's bed ever since.

The second incarnation in an upright position, I felt, worked much better.

Have you been following the book tour??

So far, at Whip Up there's the pond pattern, a lovely review from Bari J (how pretty is her blog??), and interview with me by Scott at Blue Nickel Studio's where I use the words 'numb nut', you'll have to go read the interview to find out why, and today there is a very sweet review at Fat Quarterly.  Don't forget to leave a comment on the blogs taking part to be in with a chance of winning a copy of the book and also going through to the draw for the Robin softie.

Follow the rest of the tour here ::

friday 22nd april - ric-rac 

saturday 23rd april - syko 

sunday 24th april - lucykate crafts (that's me, web chat 9pm UK time)

monday 25th april - treefall design 

tuesday 26th april - i heart linen 

wednesday 27th april - sometimes crafter 

thursday 28th april - plush you 

friday 29th april - allsorts

ps, I'm going to try and do a trial run of the web chat this evening (as in UK evening), so if you're around on Twitter later, I'll be after some volunteers!