I am working on my very first purse cake in a little over a week, and I was wondering if anyone had any helpful hints? My client wants a zebra pattern on the cake with hot pink accents. If you've made one...did you use a template? How did you get the stitching to look so real, along with the zipper and buckle?
Any input/advice would be greatly appreciated! I'm kind of nervous about this one because it's a little out of my league, but I'm also looking forward to trying it out. Luckily, it's a small cake for less than 20 people. Thanks!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsZeMIGv874&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=si6Gp_t6ifs&feature=related


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsxdAT04me4&feature=related

this is a thread on cake central. You can also google plenty of them. hth


http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=704422&postdays=0&postorder=asc&&start=0&sid=a6fa5ed6a11726fc9534d634e000aa7b

There is also a template in the templates section on here, I used it once before to do a small purse.
For the stitching, there is a Wilton tool that you can get that rolls and make the stitching line. Or some people use a pin.
For the zipper, I used gray fondant and painted it with pearl dust mixed with vodka. Same with buckle.
There are a lot of good tutorials, that would be the best place to start.

I made a small one for my grand daughter. I don't think on that cake I did a zipper, but on others I used Amazing Mold Putty to make a mold of a zipper. That stuff is great! For the stitching, I use a tracing wheel, for sewing.

http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1735334

zipper:

http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1861265/1861269

Well for the zebra lines you can google and look for cutters. I bought one, but I am from Puerto Rico. If not available you can download an image from a zebra, enlarge it and cut out the lines. for the stitch you can use the fondant cutting wheel from PME or make the stitches with a toothpick. Hope this help.

Thanks everyone, I will check all the sites out.

Dana, purses ar so much fun! I have attached a few links for you to recent purses we have done. One consisting of zebra stripes. We paint zebra stripes with a few brushes and black airbrush color. It gives it a more realistic depth, and easy to clean up, if you make a mistake you can always paint over it by changing you pattern slightly. Also you can adjust the darkness of your stripes and lightly brush the edges to create a nice fur feel. Def. practice on some scrap fondant. As far as pattern, google it and just go for it! No perfect patterns or straight lines in nature!

We also find it helpful to bake just one 12x18 and cut it down into four progressively smaller sections, starting with whatever size the base of your purse needs to be. layer and fill and separate the 2 "tiers" with a cake board and supports. This size works well for producing purses of actual size. Do your research, actual measurements are out there, and come in handy. Stitching wheels are available at most retailers that carry cake supplies. If you are feeling crazy you can pipe them with a 1 tip, looks nice, takes time though. Wish you great success as such a cake can come out absolutely gorgeous!




http://www.flickr.com/photos/christinscakes/4809863144/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/christinscakes/4802025817/

I have a question, how do you make the crumb mix coating prior to the buttercream?? I think you need to have this when making a purse cake, is it?? please help!!! thank you! forum is very very helpful!

Miriam, are you speaking of what some call cake paste? It is a mixture of cake crumbs, and buttercream that some use for sculpting....if so that is disgusting! You can always carve it from solid cake, much more pleasing when sliced up. Other wise you could be talking about a crumb coat, which is just a thin layer of buttercream as a base coat. Primer if you wish... Hope we can help!

@ChristinsCakes, your photos are great!!! what do you do for the straps, if you don't mind me asking

Modeling chocolate wrapped with fondant if necessary. Sometimes wired, sometimes not, just depends on design! If wired we roll out thin modeling chocolate pieces and glue them together around the wire. Piping gel sticks fondant to MC very well! Thanks Bunches!

thank you Christin, yes, I was talking about that crumb/buttercream mixture some people use to get the cake smooth before applying the fondant, not for sculpting...but I guess I would be better off if just applying buttercream alone, right? thanks for replying!