I'm a hobby baker who is still learning, I'd love to get to the point where I could set up a business but in the mean time, I have friends and family who are ALL more than happy to get me to practice doing cakes for them which is where I am now.

Problem is at the moment a friend has asked me to do a cake for a 70th birthday, for a woman who likes crafts like gardening, knitting, sewing, art etc and loves roses/orchids and the cake has gone from being for 15 people to feed 50! I was thinking a basket with tools and knitting needles hanging out the side but to feed 50 it would have to be huge! I know its a hobby and I'm not expected to produce total artistic perfection but it's someone's 70th, I don't want a naff looking cake just so I can practise a bit more but I just can't think of how to design it. Any one have any ideas what I could do? Its like my brain gave up and refused to pitch in anymore. Thanks guys.

Do you have to incorporate all those things?  I feel like if you are 70 it's assumed you can sew and knit.  Maybe you could do a cake with roses with a sparkley "70" at the top made with gumpaste and disco dust. 

Being that she likes gardening AND sewing...I would do a 2 tiered cake...a 6/10 (serves 50) and make one tier a gardening theme and the other tier a sewing theme.   Put on a 14" board so you have room to put "stuff" on the board.   With a 4" shelf, you will have room to put more "stuff" on the 10".

Ah yeah sorry, my friend wants all of these things somehow on the one cake. I'm pulling hair outnow because I can't think of an elegant, non cluttered looking way to do it! Thanks Sparklekat6, the 70 in the roses sounds perfect, thats the flowers bit sorted! Definatly on the top!

I would maybe just make little 2d fondant pieces (will be lots of fiddly little work) and attach them around the cake, alternated with flowers, maybe with some orchids on top. Like a little knitting project on the go, some gardening shears, an art easel and palette of paint, a piece of fabric with some large stitching around it etc. 

Or if you wanted to go cleaner than that, maybe just do the flowers and do some kind of sewing effect on fondant around the rest of the cake. 

you could design it like a basket with lids up. years ago and I am sure some still do women had sewing baskets to keep their yarn needles and hooks in and on the other side make it like a gardening basket with flower and a couple of tools spilling out...  the basket could be designed like a picnic basket where both sides lift up some... 

I was thinking along the open basket theme....does the lady have a specific knitting bag she uses? and you could have things sticking up out of it. Why is it definitely only 1 cake..it will be a big rectangle to serve that many.  Surely 2 tiers is easier.  Or a large rectangle base cake with lots of items on the top...

A scene of a knitting lady sat in her garden....which would be WAY beyond my own capabilities...sorry  :/

Thank you so much guys, these are all ace! I'm so glad I can actually go to her with something. You guys are all ace too =]

I like the idea, but how about baking a large cake and making the basket as a topper (cake covered in fondant and the the rest also in fondant)

i had a lady want a cake with a ton of those similar items on it... She had it planned out to the last detail, to the colors of the tier's and th ribbon with a zillion flowers cascading.... it want on and on LOL. when I was making it I was thinking oh my this will look so goddy, with the colors and ALL of the items.  But in the end it was a little cluttered but quite cute :)

When I'm stuck for ideas I look at the galleries here and I Google search using tags.  Just seeing the variety of designs can either get my imagination going or I can find something to copy ( always giving the original designer the credit when posting pics).  Just type in "gardening cakes" or sewing theme cake...you'll get lots of images to inspire you.