I have a feeling something like these have probably been done here before considering the huge amount of video game inspired cross stitches I see on Craftster. I actually got the idea for these from some mini Mario stitches I saw a long time ago. It's been forever since I've posted in this section so I thought I would stop by and show my own retro video game creations!
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Now by popular demand (and by popular I mean like 3 people and me being bored
), here is a tutorial on how to make these. They are very easy so hopefully I don't screw up the directions, this is my first online tutorial. I tend to be wordy so I'm sorry in advance if any of this is confusing!
Materials needed: Standard size Yarn (black plus all the colors you want to use for each piece), Large upholstery needle, Magnetic strips or recycled magnets, sharpie, scissors, hot glue gun, and of course the plastic canvas.
Step 1: So start off drawing out the shapes of the various pieces with a Sharpie, directly onto the canvas. I make each square section measure 4 x 4 little plastic squares. Separate each outline by just one grid row. That way, you'll get the most out of the canvas but still use enough to keep every edge good and sturdy.
Step 2: Cut the shapes out using petite scissors which will allow you to get a smooth edge. Otherwise, if you leave too much of the perpendicular plastic on the edge, your yarn will snag on it and get messy. But don't cut *into* the edge or else the grid will be weakened. Haha, I hope that makes sense. If you're not familiar with plastic canvas, you will figure out these things soon enough on your own anyhow
Step 3: Start off with the black yarn for the outlines. Cut about 2.5 feet of the yarn and pull it through any hole on the edge. For a clean, un-bulky back, don't do any knotting at the end of the yarn piece. Just leave about 2 inches of it sticking out. Then as you continue, you can wrap the main yarn around the canvas AND the leftover thread that was on the end. Once you have a good inch of the ending wrapped into the main line, you can trim the excess as shown in the fourth pic below.
So for the outline all you do is keep wrapping the yarn around the edge. I make 2 rotations per square and 3 on the corners so that the plastic doesn't show through.
When done with the edges, move on to fill in the inner lines. Just do a diagonal slash through the crosses (two rotations again so the plastic doesn't show). I don't make X's with mine because I just prefer it that way but you can do it the traditional way if that's your fancy.
Step 4: Now that the outline is done as shown in the the first pic below, you can do the filler color. Do the diagonal slashes just as with the black lines. I also do two rotations for each line. Continue to fill in the sections, and add in a full "X" in the spots where there is a gap between the black lining and the filler.
Step 5: The back of your finished piece will look like the first pic below. Now it's time for magnets and glue!
If you have a roll of magnet as shown, just cut a small length of it. You can get these rolls from any craft store for pretty cheap. But if you have leftover magnets from whatever recycled material, those will work great too. Just hot glue the magnet securely to the back and you're done!
See, easy!
Feel free to PM me for any other info. Godspeed.
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