Playable Quilted Mario Snuggie

Intro: Playable Quilted Mario Snuggie

This is a request from my daughter.All of her friends have snuggies and she felt left out.I couldn’t just let her have any old snuggieand thus this monster was born.Not only can coins and power-ups be put in the question boxes, there are also two built in pockets.One for your favorite Mario characters and power-ups and the other sized for your Nintendo 3DS.All the pipes are open on the top for character placement and three music boxes at the beginning of each level to play the corresponding music.  This quilt was done entirely by hand as my poor sewing machine finally met its end on my Monster Beanbag project.  The design was based on Super Mario 3 levels 1-1, the first Fortress and 3-5.

This quilt isn't quite ready yet, but I wanted to get it submitted in time for the game.life contest.  I hope to have it completely finish for the end of the quilting contest.

STEP 1: Picking Out Your Fabric

I used a mixture of fleece and flannel for the quilt but I think the flannel was the better choice.  Fleece was difficult to quilt and I would suggest using all flannel or cotton for your quilt.  All these measurements takes into account that the fabric is at least 40" across with the backing needing to be 46".

Backing       5 yards
Light Blue   3 yards
Black           2 yards
Royal Blue 2 yards
Light Gray  1 yard
Tan              1 yard
Green         1/4 yard
Pink            1/4 yard
White          1/4 yard
Dark Blue  1/4 yard
Red            1/4 yard
Yellow        1/4 yard

STEP 2: Additional Materials

14 mesh plastic canvas
Primary colors pack of embroidery floss
Scissors
Graph paper
Fine tip sharpie markers
Seam Ripper (mistakes happen)
White Velcro Strips
Fabric Markers
Measuring tape
18" and a 6" quilting hoops
Sharp Yarn Needle (not sure of the technical name for these monster needles)
Regular needles
Quilting pins
Thimble (the soft leather ones work the best for me)
3-20 second push button sound modules
Thread
  Brown
  Black
  White
  Green
  Grey
  Red
  Light Blue
Yarn
  Light Blue
  Black
  Dark Blue

STEP 3: Cross Stich Pieces

These are made out of 14 mesh plastic canvas to make them sturdier and fabric sewed on the back to hide the mess of thread.  Not all the characters will be exclusively from Mario 3 as my daughter loves Yoshi and prefers Daisy over Peach.  These are just a few of the patterns I have found or made.  I'll get the rest posted as I finish them.

The characters I have made (or in the process of making) are.

Mario
Raccoon Mario
Frog Suit Mario
Goomba
Flying Goomba
Leaf
Star
1-up
Red Mushroom
Fire Flower
Coins
Koopa Troopa
Flying Koopa Troopa
Fireball
Green/Red Fish
Yoshi
Bowser
Princess Daisy
Boomer

STEP 4: Cutting Out Main Blocks.

We will start out with the three main blocks and the sleeves.

Light blue
37" x 51"
Two 28" x 22" (sleeves)

Royal Blue and Black
17" x 51"

Backing
55" x 46"
Two 28" x 22" (sleeves)

STEP 5: Grey Pieces

There are 10 different block to be cut from the grey fabric.  These are by far some of the hardest on this quilt to make, but for now we are just doing large squares that will later be marked and cut down.


G1-   5" x 7"
G2-   6" x 15"
G3-   7" x 13"
G4-   9" x 51"
G5-   5" x 15"
G6-   3" x 7"
G7-   3" x 6"
G8-   4" x 4"
G9-   2" x 7"
G10- 5" x 8"

STEP 6: Green Pieces

There are eight green pieces, once again these are just the rough blocks.

GR1-    6" x 10"
GR2-4  2" x 3"
GR5-    3" x 6"
GR6-    3" x 5"
GR7-    4" x 8"
GR8-    11" x 13"

STEP 7: Brown Pieces

B1&2- 3" x 51" (you may need to piece together 2 strips)
B3- 3" x 5"
B4- 2" x 5"
B5- 2" x 4"
B6- 5" x 15"
B7- 3" x 6"
B8- 3" x 4"

STEP 8: Red Pieces

R1- 3" x 4"
R2- 3" x 3"
R3- 3" x 13"

STEP 9: Pink Pieces

P1- 5" x 7"
P2- 8" x 12"
P3- 2" x 51" (you may need to piece together 2 strips)

STEP 10: White Pieces

W1- 5" x 8"
W2- 6" x 9"

STEP 11: Light Blue Pieces

LB1 3" x 8"
LB2 3" x 5"

STEP 12: Black Pieces

BL1&2-  2" x 4"
BL3&4-  2" x 6" 
BL5-       2" x 7"

STEP 13: Dark Blue Pieces

DB1&2- 2" x 5"
DB3-      2" x 4"
DB4-      2" x 5"

STEP 14: Preping the Pieces

Now that you have spent the better part of the day cutting out your pieces you are now ready to mark all of them.Get out your fabric pens and a ruler.You will need one for dark fabric and one for light.Once that is done you will need to fold the edges under and use basting stitches to keep everything in place.

STEP 15: Make Pockets

The pockets are formed with a reenforced with a layer of canvas  to make sure they last.

STEP 16: Attaching the Main Pieces

Putting the large pieces together is a quick and easy job...if you have a working sewing machine.  Start by putting the dark blue and light blue right sides together   There should be 37" of the light blue.

Attach the black to the light blue,  there should be 16" of each color.

Attach B1 to G4.

Attach B2 to P3.

STEP 17: Attach Pieces

Attach the pieces to the main backgrounds.  Be prepared to be doing this for quite a few days.  I got through three season's of Ugly Betty and four of Law & Order SVU doing this step.  The layout is 1 to 1".

STEP 18: Make Sleeves

Fold the Light Blue Sleeves and sew it on the edge.  Do the same with the Backing Piece Sleeves.  Turn the backing inside out and put it inside the blue sleeve leave an 1 1/2" hanging out of the top.  Fold the edge a quarter of an inch down and then fold it over the light blue to for an edging.

STEP 19: Attaching the Backing

Lay your backing right side down on a very large table or in my case the floor and lay your quilt on top of it.  Use large basting stiches to sew the layers together.  Fold the edging over like you did with the sleeves and sew.  Use yarn to permantly attach the layers together.  Doing it in chains (picture ) makes the process a lot faster.  use the background color but only go though the background layer so as not to interfere with your pattern.

STEP 20: Attaching the Sleeves

Using a large quilting hoop to keep the fabric taut makes this step much easier.  Your want your sleeve hole to be oval in shape.  Sew basting stiches an inch in from the hole to keep the fabric from seperating. 

Cutout the hole with an inch of fabric and snip so it folds easily. 

Fold the backing fabric between the two fabrics. 

Fold down the blue fabric on the sleeve and fold down the backing fabric 1".  Attach the backing fabric on the top, bottom, left, and right and then continue sewing until secure.

Flip the quilt over and fold the blue fabric in 1" and use the same process to sew them together.

Repeat with other sleeve.

STEP 21: Hand Quilting

This is probally the most tedious part of this quilt and one that I am not done with yet. Every single grey block must be outlined in black as well as the x in the middle.  The Brown blocks must be done in a wood pattern and outlined.  The waves and lava need to be shaped and outlined.  The bushes need to be outlined and defined.This step alone has taken me days and I am still only halfway through.  But I'll keep sewing on!!

STEP 22: Circles and Music Note Boxes/Pockets

Both of these are made using a embroidery hoop.  The music boxes are 2x2" and the circles are 1 1/2" in diameter with a 3/4" cutout.  You will need 3 Music boxes, 1 double stacked circle, 2 quadruple stacked circle, and 1 triple stacked circle.
I will post the pocket construction to hold the sound recorder as soon as I can.

STEP 23: Finally!!!

This step is a bit misleading as I am still not done, but I hope to be soon.  Thank you for reading as I sure not many of you have read it all the way through to this step. :)  If you do try this out, make sure you get a soft leather thimble so as to not destroy your fingers.   

Comments

[The Papier Boy]

This is really something special. Sending a patch your way.

[cutecraftz]

This is absolutely AWESOME!!! :) I can't wait to make one! Just a few questions though. Why do you need 5 yards of backing? That seems like an awful lot. Also, where did you find the level music to go on the sound modules? :) Thanks in Advance!!

[Kaisei13]

Thank you! Four yards would probally be more than enough. I do plan on makeing some matching pillows to go with this so I bought extra of everything. My husband found the music for me so I will have to get back to you on that one. Please post pictures when you make yours.

[Celesmeh]

Dude! This is so awesome! im a college student who cant afford a sewing machine, so usually i stay away from this project, but youre resilience has inspired me to try this (when i have a bit more time, like, the summer) I may not make it a snuggie though, it may be just a blanket...
I have one question though, why didnt you sew the patterns onto the individual pieces (the wood pattern and the 'x' in the other boxes and whatnot) first? before sewing them into the cloth?
also (and sorry for the amateur questions) so, you are sewing this into the front pieces and you have a backing for the actual, blanket/snuggie, corect?
In any case, you are an awesome mom! Great instructable!

[Kaisei13]

If you do want to sew the x's and wood grain first you will need to do it on a embroidery or quilting hoop so it stays square. I probably should have done those first but I got impatient to get it all together. I'll go ahead and add a section for that option as the x's and woodgrain stitching does not go through the backing. The only thing holding the backing to the front is the yarn and the folded edges. Thank you so much for reading and I hope you have fun trying this! Post pics if you do.

[Celesmeh]

Ive just finished the design that id like to do.. now to figure out how to do it...
I think ill use felt for a lot of the items.. that makes it a bit easier for me at least...
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e179/Celesmeh/Marioquilt.jpg

[Kaisei13]

Awesome design!! I can't wait to see the final project. Felt sounds good, but I have never tried working with it like that. Good luck and dont forget to get a good thimble!

[Celesmeh]

I got a goo thimble and have started... heres a terrible picture of what i have so far... I have cute out all of the pieces and am in the process of sewing the top of the dungeon into the fabric, im using year, that way it will loo a bit like the yoshis story game with all the cute fluffy stitching... im changing a few things as i go along but yeah...

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e179/Celesmeh/Photo0347.jpg

[Kaisei13]

It is looking great!! I think yours is coming together a lot faster than mine did. Can't wait to see more!

[Celesmeh]

I'm almost done! just gotta put the backing on it!!

[Celesmeh]

I finished the first level, I also made coins that have velcro on the back so i can move them and stick them everywhere.. the flagpole is a zipper that i sewed with its back sewn together, so i can move the flag up and down...
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e179/Celesmeh/Photo0361.jpg

[Celesmeh]

Oh also one of the main differences is that ive noticed between ours is that youre embroidering everything, but im just using the yarn to show those borders, its mostly because i dont have that patience so...

[Kaisei13]

Yeah, some of the fabric I used would fray to badly if I used just yarn. But it seems to be working great with the felt. Keep me updated! I'm lovin what you are doing.

[Celesmeh]

IM making the design now! Mine will be smaller, 40x50 inches at the front... for now i want just a blanket or a cover *i also cant make anything as big as that without feeling completely overwhelmed!* ill post pics of my design ^^

[carpfluff]

this is totally super awesome!

[DucttapeNinja]

This is beyond awesome.

[jeff-o]

Hehe, love the two pairs of feet poking out the bottom...

[Kaisei13]

My husband and son. Such good helpers.

[straitjacketlily]

could you inclued the charts for making these please

[Kaisei13]

Im uploading some right now but not the ones I already made yet. I should have all uploaded by Monday. Thanks for looking!