First Ambitious Project

[cakester]

Hello. I am a newbie at this whole thing. I mean I have stitched before in a lot smaller scale. However whenever I look at your work its crazy... and I wonder if I could ever pull this kind of work off. I just dont know how to tackle it. Do you do each line by line of scecion by section. Is it better to start out something small and work your way up or is it okay to start on something big?

Confused (?)

Do whatever you're comfortable with, there's not a right or wrong way, I tend to start with the black work, as it often is the outline of the piece, and then fill in the colours. Some people like to section their work off into grids and work on one part of the grid at a time, each project is different and you may never use the same technique twice.
I recommend trying something small like a mario or megaman sprite and see how you go. (megaman is a good one as you can do the outline first and then fill in the colours.

[Vermy]

Porkchop...

I did this as a total beginner. I was excited about doing something big, so I went straight for it.
Before starting I read a lot of this board - pretty much everything in the "techniques & tutorials" section.
I decided to go colour by colour... because I didn't like switching threads a lot. Also I got a boost every time I finished a specific colour & I would highlight it as "done" on my list. I also highlighted my printed off chart after finishing stitches & it was amazing watching the highlighted parts grow as I worked on it.
If you do go colour by colour you have to count and re-count your work to make sure you're doing everything correctly. If you start in the wrong spot, you may not realize it for a while, and then that's a lot of thread you'll have to pull back out.
It was when I started to get lazy that things would mess up on me. I wouldn't take the time to let my thread dangle so that it could unwind itself and then it would tangle up and I'd spend 3 minutes un-knotting it.

The thing I found about doing this, is it's not very difficult... but it's very time consuming. People I know would see it and tell me how they were impressed and I would always say... "you can do this too! it's only patience!"

So, if you're comfortable starting a project you know will take you months and months to complete, then go for it! It'll be awesome when you're done! You'll just have to work through those boring times in the middle where it seems never ending. It'll all be worth it!

[IzzyXIII]

It looks amazing Vermy, I admire your commitment to it

I look forward to seeing more projects from you

[kuja.girl]

Now I want to go play Monkey Island, it's one of the many classics I haven't played yet :)

Kuja, that dragon rules. I imagine you were pretty pumped when you stitched the last stitch on that one!

lol yeah, I was just glad it was done. It was something I picked up and put down a lot as I went thru junior high and high school. It's currently a pillow.

As for a 1st project, I would recommend starting something fairly small first. Like a bookmark. This way you are not investing a lot of money and time into something you may not end up liking (the craft, not the finished project). My roommate just finished her first bookmark and while I don't know if she plans on doing any other projects she seemed to have enjoyed it a lot. That's my 2 cents.

[stephaniem]

Actually incredible...!!

[Autumn]

Waaah! Amazing!

I have a big dream in my head to make a very large Monkey Island piece and you are an inspiration! Do you know the dimensions of your finished product?

Man. This piece is just so excellent.

[Vermy]

The length is something like 8 inches. I went with a high cloth count so that it wouldn't be too massive... I think it looks nicer on the wall this way... really detailed!

I can't wait to see what scene you do!

[xhouseatlantic]

I find it impressive when someone can finish a huge piece like that.
I messed up on the very first color of a large project and haven't picked it up since, but you give me inspiration! lol

[Brodeuse]

Great work! Brings back memories...

@Porkchop: As some said, you should start with what you're comfortable with.
I personally prefer small projects, for the simple reason that I don't know what the **** to do with large projects! It's fun to stitch, looks great, and then what? I put it in a drawer? How sad!
What really is difficult with large projects is not the fact that it is huge, but the fact that there's an awful lot of colors, and different shades of the same color. I know that I have something sleeping in a drawer (that I WILL definitely do someday) that includes something like 6 different shades of gray, and at least four beige... A nightmare! So I'm gonna wait until ALL my other projects are done, because I can't stand thinking of the time I'll spend on the shades.
But what's amazing about video games stitching is that you can avoid subtle color shades (especially if you're into oldie video games).
So you shouldn't be afraid of a big project, as long as you choose it carefully.
In fact, it all depends on how patient you are. If you don't fell like spending three days stitching different shades of white / gray-white / yellow-white on a white aïda cloth, when all you can see if freakin' white, then you should avoid huge projects (especially non-sprite ones), but if you think it can be fun, and if your dream is to stitch until your eyes bleed, go ahead, and please post your Work in Progress!!!

[DWgrrl]

this is fantastic!!!! you did a really wonderfull job, i know how those big projects can get too you. i think i am a month away from finishing something that started bigish to HUGE! lol...