Sewing Project: Wraparound Skirt

About 2 months ago I found this skirt at Downeast Basics that I really liked. But $30 for a skirt? Ugh. Not a fan. Especially one that looked pretty easy to make. So I found a few patterns that looked similar by poking around online, and I settled on making this one since it didn't require a zipper (and, consequently, did not require the purchase of a zipper foot for my sewing machine).

A month ago I went and picked out fabric - a beautiful deep blue satiny fabric that, quite honestly, I chose because it matched some shoes I bought recently, and I didn't have much else in that color. I probably should have picked a less slippery fabric, but I'm a sucker for shiny "special" fabrics...

Anyway, then life got busy and crazy, so it wasn't until last night that I had time to sit down and work on actually making the skirt. I don't actually like sewing by myself; so I went upstairs and solicited the help of my sister-in-law, aka my personal sewing consultant, to help me figure out the pattern. (And by this I mean she figured it out and told me what to do. And also did a large part of the pinning involved as well, to my delight.)

Six-ish hours later, we finished!

I had to include the shoes in the picture, of course - you can see why I needed something to match them!

Overall it turned out very well. I was surprised how smoothly everything went. If I made this pattern again, I'd probably make smaller pleats and more of them, and possibly make the band not quite so wide - the pattern has you cut it out to be 15 in wide. (It's scrunched down in that photo and it's still pretty wide.) But honestly, for an amateur like me, I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.

I can theoretically wear it as a dress as well, but I can tell already if I decide to go that route I'll need extensive help putting it on. In my quick trial run though, it looks good that way as well, though it's a little on the short side (and of course I'd wear a shirt under it).

Next up I want to try making this skirt pattern to see how it compares. Any suggestions on color?

Perler Beads: Super Mario RPG

We made a new addition to our Mario homage... This time with Super Mario RPG, arguably one of the best RPGs on the Super Nintendo (though it has some fierce competition for the #1 spot, what with Final Fantasy III and ChronoTrigger; I think I'll leave the actual ranking to someone who reviews video games). 

ANYWAY, a week or two ago Nathan decided he wanted to perler-ize the sprites from Super Mario RPG, and then he actually did, despite me telling him he was crazy. And they actually turned out really awesome! Lest you chastise me for being surprised at that, keep in mind that the sprites are all pseudo-3D and use a lot of colors that don't exist in perler bead land, so it's extremely impressive that he made them look so AMAZING.

Super Mario RPG (starting at upper left and going clockwise): Princess, Mario, Bowser, Geno, Mallow, and Booster (in the middle)

They now reside on the door to the closet under the stairs, between Yoshi growing up and the Dr. Mario guys. 

And now, a bonus Mega Man picture now that they are all up on the wall finally.

Mega Man Robot Masters (from Mega Man 1-3) and Mega Man

I've been working on some new Zelda ones too, so stay tuned for those eventually... I played through all of The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons (just finished yesterday) so I have lots of inspiration! A replay of Minish Cap is next, since Nathan just surprised me with a copy of my very own. :) Then I need to get ahold of Oracle of Ages and Link's Awakening DX to round out my experience...

In other news, I got a new job (well, a promotion, actually) and I start next Monday. So yay for that! 

Perler Beads: Mega Man 1 and 3

Remember how we made Mega Man 2 sprites ages ago? Well, Nathan decided that he really ought to make Mega Man sprites for every Mega Man game he owns. So he's been a bit busy on that front... So far he's completed Mega Man 1 and 3, though 3 is not yet up on the wall. Numbers 4 and 6 are still waiting their turns, but we'll get them done eventually... And who knows if we'll ever own 5 because it is wicked expensive on Ebay! (Maybe we'll find it in a used game store and they won't realize how much it's worth...)

Mega Man 1: Cut Man and Ice Man

Mega Man 1: Elec Man, Fire Man

Mega Man 1: Bomb Man, Mega Man, Guts Man (also these are put up right above Mega Man 2; we didn't actually make another Mega Man sprite)

Mega Man 2: Spark Man, Snake Man, Gemini Man, Hard Man, Needle Man, Magnet Man, Shadow Man, Top Man, hanging out on the carpet until we buy more sticky tack.

You may note that there are only 6 robot masters in Mega Man 1; Time Man and Oil Man were added in the remake so they apparently don't count.

At any rate, the main thing I have determined is we could dedicate an entire wall to Mega Man robot masters and fill it up completely. This means that either Mega Man 1 & 2 must be moved to a new location, or ChronoTrigger is going to get awfully crowded, because they currently share a wall...

Perler Beads: Secret of Mana

Just as a quick heads up if any of you are looking for good deals on Perler beads, this site is having a sale through the end of today for 30% off an order of $60 or more and free shipping (best deal I've seen yet - usually it's 20-25% off), using the code LASTDAYS. So get on that if you're buying them anyway. It drops a 1000 count bag of beads to $1.40.

And now, on to the good stuff!

This post is for my friend Amy, who loves Secret of Mana more than anyone else I know. So in her honor, I finally got around to making all the sprites I could find from that game. I had a surprisingly hard time finding sprite sheets, even though it's such a classic for the SNES, hence the lack of interesting poses, but I'm still pleased with how they turned out.

Secret of Mana: The healer girl 

Secret of Mana: the hero

Secret of Mana: the sprite (I agonized over what colors to use for his hair for AGES, and let me tell you it looks much better now than it did the first time I finished him.)

Secret of Mana: Mushboom enemy

Secret of Mana: Rabite enemy

aaaand the whole Secret of Mana gang! 

My husband reviewed this game here if you're interested. I found it really frustrating to play, but I do really like the sprites, so maybe I'll give it another shot sometime... co-op of course. :P