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Thread: Video Game Crafts: Sewing, Cross Stitching, Painting, Embroidery, Etc.

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    Default Video Game Crafts: Sewing, Cross Stitching, Painting, Embroidery, Etc.

    Have you ever created crafts centered around video games? Made an iron-on t-shirt? Created a plush? Sewn a custom pillow cover? Sculpted a clay statuette? Tell us about your artistic video game creations!

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    I've been cross stitching since I was a little girl, but I never thought to stitch any sprites until roughly a decade or so ago. My cross stitching has always been sporadic, sometimes dropping it for years at a time, so I don't have much to show for myself thus far. I started a SNES sampler that only has a Super Mario Kart strip so far. I want Secret of Mana to be the next strip, but I'll need to figure out what floss I'll need for it, which is always a challenge when making your own patterns. I can get really obsessive-compulsive about getting the colors just right. I have a larger piece of Asha and Pepe from the title screen of Monster World IV. Visually, it looks effectively done, since the only thing I have left to do is fill in all the white. It's already on white Aida, but projects still generally look better with the white filled in, in my opinion.

    As a teen, I used to make tons of stuffed animals, so it would be fun to do a game-related plush, but I wouldn't know where to start there. I had always done kits where you simply follow the lines to cut out the pieces and then follow the directions to know which piece to stitch together when. I also did kits for various themed pillows (like a turtle, cat and mouse, even a hot dog), and I made a number of regular square pillows all on my own. I did one time make a teddy bear pillow on my own, drawing my own pattern, but it came out kind of weird, since the bodies and limbs were skinnier than you'd expect of a teddy bear. I also tried my hand at making clothes, but I was never great at that. It's been a million years since I touched a sewing machine or serger, so I'd be beyond rusty. But I do still have some official Pokemon fabric I bought in the late 90s that I never did anything with. Maybe someday I'll put it to some kind of use.

    Anyway, most of my rambling here doesn't even involve game-related projects. I guess I'm still more of an admirer than a participator. For anyone who's interested in this stuff, I highly recommend Sprite Stitch. It's not especially active these days, but it's still a great site and forum. There are so many ridiculously creative and talented people making video game crafts. It's also one of the few game-related hobbies where women seem to outnumber men, and I've always found the community very friendly, positive, helpful, and generous, which is a breath of fresh air compared to all the toxicity in gaming these days.

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    I know Ill be lambasted for being "that guy" but Ive always wondered how so many people have no ethical qualms about selling their shirts and crafts with someone elses licensed IP on it without their permissions and without paying royalties.

    I know, I know, Nintendo doesnt care, theyre not really losing any profits I just look at it from a creators standpoint.

    Theres so much that can be done and created without stealing other peoples work.

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    Stuff like mass-produced bootleg t-shirts are totally unrelated to crafts. The vast majority of game-related crafts wouldn't even be worth selling. They're usually one-of-a-kind items, and people who don't make them often don't realize the ridiculous amount of time it takes to complete them, not to mention the cost of materials. Practically no one is willing to pay what would be a fair price for all the time and investment. Those who do sell crafts on Etsy or what have you are usually not making even close to minimum wage for their work. These are people who love crafting and would do it as a hobby regardless, so they're just selling some things for pocket change that they can put back into their hobby, similar to how game collectors may pick up things here and there to flip or as trade fodder just to acquire more games.

    Most video game crafters I've come across make things for themselves, as gifts, and sometimes even for charity. Sprite Stitch used to do yearly quilts with cross stitch patches created by members of the forum that Child's Play would auction off for thousands of dollars.

    The kinds of things that do get sold for profit are things that can be mass-produced, like a digital piece of fan art that be turned into an infinite number of art prints. These things exist because there is untapped demand that IP holders often ignore, and IP holders are often difficult to work with. You can't just sell some fanmade items, mail a percentage of that to Nintendo, and call it a day. Publishers often refuse to license a product, if the creator even has the connections and clout to get an actual response to begin with. There usually has to be a lot of money involved for IP holders to take notice and want a piece of the pie, and those who are making decent money are usually happy to get their work licensed if the option is presented to them. Getting licensed opens up doors and vastly increases your reach and profit potential. It's Chinese bootleggers, not crafters and fans, who prefer to do things illegally.

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    Makes sense

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    Personally, I've only made a couple of things I can remember right now. My in-laws used to have a christmas party every year and everyone had to make an ornament to hang on the tree. One year I made a 2D Mario out of Lego. I'm sure I have a picture somewhere, but I'm sure you can more or less picture it. about 4"x4".

    I'm pretty sure I've also done a Link out of perler beads, when the kids were into that for a while.

    My wife is the real crafter, and she's made the kids t-shirts with space invaders on them, maybe other characters, too. She's also knit me a space invaders winter hat in black and white, which is awesome and I wear regularly. There's gotta be other stuff, but I'm blanking on it right now. She was doing anigarumi (sp?) crocheted dolls and animals for awhile, and she made some ninjas, but I can't recall any video game characters. Seems like there must have been some, though.

    She also knit a Doctor Who (Baker) scarf for me a loooong time ago, which is still awesome, and way too long.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Cornelius View Post
    One year I made a 2D Mario out of Lego. I'm sure I have a picture somewhere, but I'm sure you can more or less picture it. about 4"x4".
    I didn't think I'd have anything to add but this reminded me...my 4 your has really been getting into video games lately, so many times over the last few months I've been "crafting" Mario's, Yoshi's and Bowser's out of his Duplo blocks.
    "Game programmers are generally lazy individuals. That's right. It's true. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Since the dawn of computer games, game programmers have looked for shortcuts to coolness." Kurt Arnlund - Game programmer for Activision, Accolade...

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    I have a Lego Mario too. It's the small/regular Mario from the first SMB. It's also all that remains of my Lego collection. I had a huge collection from childhood that I held on to for years and years, but I eventually made the hard decision to part with it all, since I knew it was just going to sit untouched the vast majority of the time. When I still had it, I dabbled in making some other sprites. I seem to recall making the white dragon from Dragon Spirit once. I was kind of limited in what I could make, though, because my collection was just a hodgepodge of many various Lego kits. I often didn't have the right amount or sizes of certain colors to make sprites that interested me.

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    I forgot about these little guys my wife made a long time ago:

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    Quote Originally Posted by Aussie2B View Post
    I have a Lego Mario too. It's the small/regular Mario from the first SMB. It's also all that remains of my Lego collection. I had a huge collection from childhood that I held on to for years and years, but I eventually made the hard decision to part with it all, since I knew it was just going to sit untouched the vast majority of the time. When I still had it, I dabbled in making some other sprites. I seem to recall making the white dragon from Dragon Spirit once. I was kind of limited in what I could make, though, because my collection was just a hodgepodge of many various Lego kits. I often didn't have the right amount or sizes of certain colors to make sprites that interested me.
    That's rough getting rid of Legos. My wife and I love them, and for awhile her dad was giving us sets as gifts regularly. Our kids, son especially, are really into them, too, so it is very hard not to overindulge. Star Wars Legos in particular are a weak spot for me. And the NASA stuff.

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    Those Pikmin are super cute.

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