ldhenson: (dutchy2)
ldhenson ([personal profile] ldhenson) wrote2008-10-17 11:20 pm
Entry tags:

East side, west side...

As many of you on my flist have probably gathered, I love New York.

More specifically, I love turn of the century New York.

So...uh...this was pretty much inevitable, right?





I suppose these count as nos. 9a-9e in my series of stuffed toys.

They're based on turn of the century maps (dated sometime between 1903-1908 is my guess). The changes between these contours and modern-day NYC aren't huge; the most obvious differences would be the absence of the land on which the airports are situated. And of course, there's a lot of license taken here with the coastline, because there's only so much detail you can get when it comes to felt. Happy medium, dear, happy medium...



The reverse sides of the Bronx and Manhattan. Holy smokes, I'd never realized just how fiddly the southeast side of the Bronx is.



"I've a cozy little flat in
What is known as old Manhattan..."



I originally meant to do closeups of each of the other four boroughs, but my camera batteries died on me.

All the boroughs are to scale. Here they are laid out on sheets of pale blue felt.



Cartographic geekery!



ETA: Individual pics of the other boroughs.




The Bronx.



Brooklyn.



Queens narrowly escaped lasting effects from an accidental glue spill (from another project) during construction. Luckily, yours truly noticed it in the nick of time and made a heroic dash for the sink.



Staten Island, a.k.a. Borough of Richmond back in the day.



X-posted to [livejournal.com profile] craftgrrl (here), [livejournal.com profile] newyorkers (here), [livejournal.com profile] cute_plush (here)

[identity profile] grace-poppy.livejournal.com 2008-10-18 08:05 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh my word, oh my word, oh my word. You are the 21st century prodigy of felt.

[identity profile] ldhenson.livejournal.com 2008-10-18 10:29 pm (UTC)(link)
Thanks!

[identity profile] ldhenson.livejournal.com 2008-10-18 10:38 pm (UTC)(link)
Well, thank you! I'm with you, there's something about maps that's very appealing. Though I must confess that my focus when it comes to maps tends to be narrow rather than wide, so I know certain areas very well, but I'm no good at general geography.

An African version would be complex and amazing. If you do make it, I'd love to see what you come up with. You could always start with a country or two and build it up as you go...

[identity profile] ldhenson.livejournal.com 2008-10-18 10:39 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you!

[identity profile] betsybookwyrm.livejournal.com 2008-10-18 10:57 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm not really a New York person... but that is awesome.

[identity profile] avada-sempra.livejournal.com 2008-10-19 12:17 am (UTC)(link)
Oh my god! I am absolutely amazed by this - so fantastic & awesome.

Re: Clever Mapster

[identity profile] ldhenson.livejournal.com 2008-10-19 01:23 am (UTC)(link)
I've come across Wharton's name while reading, but haven't actually read her books. I'll definitely add that to my "check this out" list, thanks! It's just such a fascinating period, when technology and the country were changing so quickly.

[identity profile] ldhenson.livejournal.com 2008-10-19 01:27 am (UTC)(link)
Glad you like! Queens is 12" at its widest point, but really, I just did all these by hand so the sizes were up to me. 12" was the largest sheet I had in that color, and all the other boroughs were scaled from that.

[identity profile] ldhenson.livejournal.com 2008-10-19 01:27 am (UTC)(link)
Thank you!

[identity profile] ldhenson.livejournal.com 2008-10-19 01:43 am (UTC)(link)
Thanks!

[identity profile] ldhenson.livejournal.com 2008-10-19 01:59 am (UTC)(link)
Thank you!

Felt cartography

Hee. Today New York...tomorrow the world!

[identity profile] ldhenson.livejournal.com 2008-10-19 02:03 am (UTC)(link)
Thanks! It took me about a week, working on it here and there. I did all the cutting and stitching by hand. Some of the complicated contours (like the Bronx) are actually pretty tricky, as it's hard to wedge a needle in there at that angle.

[identity profile] ldhenson.livejournal.com 2008-10-19 02:19 am (UTC)(link)
Thank you. Felt can be really great to work with...it has a nice thickness and in certain ways it can be a very forgiving fabric, which certainly comes in handy!

[identity profile] mscate.livejournal.com 2008-10-19 04:10 am (UTC)(link)
totally amazing!

[identity profile] ldhenson.livejournal.com 2008-10-19 04:20 am (UTC)(link)
That was how I knew I'd gotten it right :-)

[identity profile] ldhenson.livejournal.com 2008-10-19 05:42 am (UTC)(link)
Thank you. I've been wanting to do this one for a while and I'm happy how it worked out!

[identity profile] ldhenson.livejournal.com 2008-10-19 08:54 am (UTC)(link)
Thank you!

[identity profile] ldhenson.livejournal.com 2008-10-19 09:01 am (UTC)(link)
Well I don't know about that, but thank you :-) I'm quite pleased that I was able to maintain these kinds of contours while stitching, because I couldn't before and now I think it'll make some of my other projects easier. (I hope!)

[identity profile] ldhenson.livejournal.com 2008-10-19 01:48 pm (UTC)(link)
Thanks! Eventually I'd love to do the same for other places...

[identity profile] trishalynn.livejournal.com 2008-10-19 05:49 pm (UTC)(link)
For some reason, the idea of the entire borough of Queens being covered in fabric glue makes me giggle.

Re: Clever Mapster

[identity profile] trishalynn.livejournal.com 2008-10-19 05:50 pm (UTC)(link)
I read the first few chapters on Bibliomania, and it's on my list of NYC-related books to buy.
ext_6373: A swan and a ballerina from an old children's book about ballet, captioned SWAN! (Default)

[identity profile] annlarimer.livejournal.com 2008-10-19 08:20 pm (UTC)(link)
Groovy and awesome.

[identity profile] ldhenson.livejournal.com 2008-10-19 11:55 pm (UTC)(link)
It's not something they ever prepare for in disaster drills, I bet.

[identity profile] ldhenson.livejournal.com 2008-10-19 11:57 pm (UTC)(link)
Well, thank you! Lovely icon you have by the way.

[identity profile] ldhenson.livejournal.com 2008-10-19 11:57 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you!

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