A dedicated Legend of Zelda fan has created an incredible cross stitch tapestry of A Link to the Past‘s world map. The classic game, which celebrates its 30-year anniversary this year in North America and Europe, established many series conventions whilst also notably giving Zelda protagonist Link some unusually pink hair.
A Link to the Past was the game that first introduced the Zelda series to the concept of alternate worlds. Link would travel between the Light World and Dark World in his efforts to defeat Ganon, otherwise known as regular Hyrule and the corrupted Sacred Realm respectively. A Link to the Past also returned to the top-down perspective of the original The Legend of Zelda, after the side-scroller action of The Legend of Link. The two expansive, parallel world maps were impressive for the technology of the time, and helped to make the third Zelda game an enduring fan favorite. Technically speaking, A Link to the Past has more dungeons than any other Zelda title despite its age and many successors.
Now one fan has completed a tapestry depicting a map of the Light World. Reddit user oldmanchadly‘s embroidered world map clearly shows famous locations such as Hyrule Castle, Karariko Village and the Lost Woods, and is bordered by white clouds on all sides. According to oldmanchadly, the final product measures an incredible 27″ by 24″, is comprised of 128,164 individual cross stitches, and took 400 days of work to complete. Although this is obviously an enormous length of time, cross stitch and other such embroidery techniques are well-known to require large amounts of time and patience for large projects such as this one. In fact, some cross stitch projects – such as this Pokémon tapestry made by a fan’s mom – can easily take years to complete.
The pattern for this tapestry was sourced from the BoxCatShop found on Etsy, which claims that the tapestry should measure about 25″ square. The discrepancy with oldmanchadly’s final measurements is likely due to the material used. oldmanchadley notes that the fabric they bought for the project had non-standard measurements, which ultimately affected the size of their stitches and therefore the final piece. Nevertheless, they still had fun with the project, thanks in no small part to their work method: “After getting the castle filled in I decided to direct my progress as if I were playing the game via a walkthrough,” they explained to commenters. By completing the map section by section, in the same order that Link explores them himself, oldmanchadly was able to give themselves a clear sense of progression and definitive goals throughout this impressive cross stitch project.
Zelda: A Link to the Past‘s twin worlds introduced many aspects of Hyrule that remain core parts of the Zelda franchise to this day, including the Master Sword, although Link’s pink hair has yet to make a reappearance. The recurring concept of parallel worlds itself has given rise to locations such as Termina and the Twilight Realm. Therefore, this tapestry is undoubtedly a fitting tribute to one of the most influential video games there is. oldmanchadley’s dedication as a fan is similarly without question, thanks to the incredible amount of time that has clearly been put into creating this work of art. This fan-made map of the Light World is immediately recognizable, and its accuracy means that it could easily be used to navigate through A Link to the Past itself.
Sources: oldmanchadly/Reddit, BoxCatShop/Etsy
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Author: Matthew Wilcox
