Video game cross-stitch projects (Last updated July 15, 2007)
Contents
- About this page (and why/how I got started doing this)
- Dragon Quest VIII: Hero
- Dragon Quest VIII: Jessica
About this page (and why/how I got started doing this)
This page is a place to document one of my stranger hobbies: counted cross-stitch. In keeping with my nerdy tradition, the subject of my work is video games. In a way, cross-stitch and games go together well: games are in essence pixel-based works, and the regular shape of the stitches and large available color palette of embroidery threads allow the creation of pictures that mimic game displays and artwork. Of course, the irony of this is that my works so far have been based on a game known for its use of polygons rather than pixels, but I have one project in the works that's based on a classic game; the stitches in this future project will match the original pixels of the game sprites one-to-one.
As for how I got started in this hobby--I blame my TV! I've never liked to sit around and just watch TV; I've always felt that just passively watching shows is a waste of time. I figured that I would feel less guilty if I did something constructive while the TV was on. I've seen other cross-stitched works online and thought they looked good, and I figured that cross-stitch would be easy enough to learn. I've discovered that it is fairly easy to pick up (rewarding patience and persistence far more than artistic talent, which I sorely lack), and having a tangible piece of art to hang on the wall at the end is a bonus.
Dragon Quest VIII: Hero (completed January 1, 2007)
I started working on this project not too long after I played through the game (December 2005), and finished it on January 1, 2007, spending 250 hours spread out over a little more than a year. Using software (PCStitch), I took a screenshot from the game and converted it into a pattern, which was tweaked by hand to reduce the complexity of the areas between major color changes (though the result still wasn't very simple).
The final project is slightly smaller than 8" by 10" and fits perfectly inside an 8x10 frame. At 14 stitches per inch, the total stitch count was 14,279, with a palette of 95 colors -- some of which were used for as few as half a dozen stitches.
Pictures (click on thumbnail for full size image)
The finished piece (just after removing from the frame)
A close-up of the stitchwork in the face area
The finished piece inside the final picture frame
Downloads
- Original pattern (NOTE: requires PCStitch 7)
- Printable color pattern and chart (PDF)
- Printable symbol pattern and chart (PDF)
Dragon Quest VIII: Jessica (completed July 10, 2007)
Right on the heels of the first completed project, I started this one. Rather than do another 8x10 (which takes way too long), I decided to work on something smaller. In this case, the finished project is only 5x7, but still uses nearly 100 colors. The reduced size resulted in less than half the stitches of the total used for the hero, which took about 80 hours spread out over 6 months to finish.
Another change for this project: the pattern for this project was created using a tool called Pattern Maker for Cross Stitch. Like the hero, the pattern was manually adjusted to reduce the complexity.
Pictures (click on thumbnail for full size image)
The finished piece on the frame
The project just before I put it in the picture frame
Jessica, complete in the picture frame
Downloads
- Original pattern (NOTE: requires Pattern Maker for Cross Stitch)
- Printable color pattern and chart (PDF)
- Printable symbol pattern and chart (PDF)