Boo! Spooky Cross Stitch Patterns

One of my favorite video games is Super Mario World, and my favorite levels are the Ghost Houses. The boos are funny, and add a challenge as they chase you throughout the levels. I also love all the hidden rooms, doors, and exits. I wanted a quick cross stitch project to do while taking a break from a larger cross stitch project. I had also just bought some glow in the dark embroidery floss, so I decided to use it for some Boo cross stitch projects.

I've dubbed the Boo face on the left "Silly Boo" and the face on the right "Chasing Boo".

The Boo face on the left is my favorite, and appears only when you (as Mario or Luigi) do not move your character for a while, with the character facing the Boo. A Boo will change to that expression just for a moment, and go back to its normal expression. The Boo face on the right occurs when your character's back is facing the Boo (i.e., when you're walking or running from it) and it (the Boo) is chasing you.

I used two small (2.25 in opening) cross stitch frames that I found at a thrift store. They were a shiny gold color, which wouldn't work with the Boos. A coat of white paint, several coats of glow in the dark paint, and a couple coats of clear sealer gave the frames a fun makeover. I used 14 count black Aida cloth for them, because I wanted them to stand out more than on white cloth. Once finished, I added backstitching around the Boos so the black outline stitching would show up against the black cloth.

Here is a closer picture of one, with a U.S. quarter for size comparison.

The patterns were a fun and quick project to do. I think painting the frames took longer than the stitching! I've made a digital pattern of each Boo, and each is posted below. I used the darker grey in the pattern, but I mixed some glow in the dark thread with the pearl grey for those stitches. I didn't have any lighter grey thread, so I just used the same grey for the lighter sections, but used less grey and more glow in the dark thread for the light grey sections.

"Silly Boo" Pattern:

Please do not sell pattern. For personal use only.

"Chasing Boo" Pattern:

Please do not sell pattern. For personal use only.

Now I just need to figure out where to hang these Boos. I may need to make more Super Mario cross stitch projects. Or maybe play some Super Mario World. Hmm.

Up next: an aviation themed fabric design post.

Fabric: When Geeks Attack!

First, I want to express my extreme jealousy at everyone who attended PAX this year. I've never attended a convention, but I know I want to go to PAX at some point (hopefully next year!). I may have to play some Mario Kart later.

Second: I've noticed a lot of sudden interest in my geek/video game tagged fabrics, which means that geeks are finally finding Spoonflower! I know I've been promoting my current contest entries, but I thought I would also promote some of my fabric collections. (Also, please bear with me and my post topics; my blog is still new, I'm still getting back into writing (oh how I've missed it!), and currently dealing with some issues completely out of my control, which is not fun).

For my Console Colors collection, I have two stripes, two plaids, and one dot in two colorways. If I've lost you, let me explain. I have two colorways; one is inspired by colors from NES games, and the other colorway is inspired by colors from one of my favorite SNES games, Super Mario World. Each colorway has two stripes, two plaids, and one dot.

 NES inspired:

SNES inspired:

I also have a stripe inspired by Pac-Man, which is currently available for purchase in two colorways.

Available for purchase here.

Available for purchase here.

I have more Pac-Man inspired prints, but they are for my use only, since I do not want to deal with copyright issues. I also do not want to get on Namco's (or Nintendo's) bad sides, since I love everything Pac-Man and Zelda (among other games). I will be doing another Pac-Man inspired stripe, but strictly in colors from the game (well, actually the colors will come from Ms. Pac-Man). 

Spoonflower offers a variety of fabric that can suit almost any project. For casual clothing, the knit would be great as a top or dress. There's also cotton silk, a new fabric, that is soft and shiny, and could be perfect for a pretty, but still geeky, dress. For crafting uses, the linen-cotton canvas or upholstery weight cotton twill could work well, depending on the project. The linen-cotton canvas is a little thinner than typical duck cloth, but is much softer and nicer. The canvas could also work for a casual jacket, if someone would want a geeky jacket.

Upcoming post: My current Fabric of the Week contest entry, and my entry for the next contest. Until then, please look at my video game inspired fabrics and check out other geek fabric on Spoonflower. Also, play some video games!