Friday, December 3, 2010

Thank you for your patience!










The second NES bedding set is (finally) complete!

So much has happened that we never would have expected. Inspired by the online DIY community, my mother and I came up with the harebrained idea to MAKE a new, unique bed set for my brother. We decided to base the design on the most classic gaming system, the original NES, and worked on it over the course of a month while trying to keep as much of it secret from him as possible. In the end, my brother loved it and I decided on a whim to post a slideshow on Instructables.com. The overwhelming response from both the Instructables community and the internet as a whole spurred us to make a second bedding set to sell, using all the same materials and techniques as the first NES bedding set. This set will be up for auction on eBay sometime next week.









It has certainly been a journey. Even after making the whole set once, the second set took just as long in terms of hours of work (about 20 in total). The materials we chose, while beautiful, are very difficult to work with on this scale. The base of the comforter is lightweight polyester, enhanced with hand-sewn additions of microfiber suede. Every letter is hand-cut and attached to the bed, bed skirt, and pillows. We took special care in making sure that the opposite side of the comforter is unmarked, making the set totally reversible. The comforter reverses to plain black, the pillows can be flipped to a plain gray side, and even the black stripe on the bed skirt can be flipped up. Only the buttons on the bed skirt may reveal the secret! The bedding set also comes with two plain, standard-sized pillow shams in the same material as the comforter, also reversible. The game controller pillows are microfiber suede with 100% cotton backing.

Let me reiterate that we will not be creating another set like this. Even if we make another game-themed bedding set, the materials will be completely different and I doubt we will be making the “vent” the same way ever again. The fabric is ridiculously expensive, our machine has trouble sewing through it, and it’s almost impossible to hand-sew.









The comforter is US-Queen sized, and the pillow cases are US-King sized. Since my brother has the only Queen bed in the house and has finals right now, the set is modeled on a US-Full sized bed. I think it looks much better on a Queen, since the measurements are more accurate to the actual gaming system…and there is more room for the pillows! Side-by-side, they still hang off the Queen a bit, but it’s much better than the Full. If you are not in the US or do not have a standard-sized bed, please compare the size of your bed to the US-Queen dimensions before buying this set.

Some may remember from my original, small post on Instructables that my brother had the same bedding set since he was in 6th grade. What I did not mention is that all of his bedding, to this day, remains in perfect condition. He takes better care of his things than anyone else I know; he always has. This is one of the reasons my mother and I knew we could make something like this for him. Even now, almost two months later, his bedding set only showed a few design flaws that we worked to fix in the new set. There is no staining, no wear. I’m amazed at how well it held up, but I would still never recommend this set to children. It’s a handmade novelty object; most of it is very delicate, and I cannot guarantee that it will hold up with regular cleaning. In fact, I wouldn’t wash this at all - especially the pillow cases. We recommend cleaning the surfaces gently with a damp cloth and, if completely necessary, a gentle cleaner. DO NOT DRY CLEAN. Dry cleaning uses high heats and irons and is not recommended for this set. The bed set will come with our washing recommendations and a small repairs kit.


This is a bit long, so let’s review:

1) This is the ONLY bedding set we will be making like this in these fabrics.

2) The comforter is a US-Queen size, but is pictured on a US-Full size bed.

3) The pillow cases are US-King size. We will not be shipping pillows with the pillow cases.

3) This bedding set is not recommended for children, pets, or other mess-prone organisms, because…

4) This bedding set is surface-washable only.














That’s it! Any questions can be left either here or on the eBay page once the auction starts. Again, we’d like to thank the Instructables community especially for encouraging us on this endeavor, and the many sites and bloggers who have posted about the original NES bedding set.

We will make our decision on whether or not to pursue a full-on sewing business at the end of this auction.