Maker Post: Fan Crafting, Mostly Armitage

I love to make stuff!

Problem is there’s only so much room in one’s house, so the best thing to do ,which creates winners all round, is to make stuff for other people! I really enjoy sending bits out , especially when fellow fandom friends are feeling a bit low (i mean who isn’t at the moment?)

So below are a few bits and pieces I’ve made in the past 6 months that have finally gone to good homes! Except for 1 piece, but I’ll mention that later on.

So there are 3 cross stitch designs I made that were particularly small and fun to do.

First off is a Frances Dolerhyde piece; the quiet, shy serial killer from the TV series Hannibal. This is his famous ‘You Owe Me Awe’ quote , which i gave to a fellow fan back in London in February 2020. The little symbol is from the Chinese tile based game ‘Mahjong‘ and is the tile for dragon! The whole piece including frame is approx  3 inches by 2 inches.

my doing tiny cross stitch

Next up are 2 pieces based around the character John Porter from Strike Back Origins:

‘I’m All Heart’ which, even though said sarcastically, is quite irresistible as a quote. I also used a motif from that first episode where Porter is seen with the a pack of cards with various people of interest to the Armed Forces on them.

The next Porter quote is “Look, I’d settle for an ‘r’ and you can call me Romeo”.  I just couldn’t resist a couple of hearts where the ‘O’s belong. John finds out a few seconds later that his intrigue with Danni wasn’t quite what he thought it was though!

For all of these pieces I used the StitchFiddle website to help me design the patterns

Along with this cross stitch, i sent another little make which was a cute little tin I’ve had hanging around with ‘Rose Cold Cream’ on it, which had to be filled with Mr Thornton’s yellow roses from Helston! Then on the inside of the lid is the all seeing eye of Richard Armitage.

Next up is one of the more complicated pieces I’ve designed and stitched. It was inspired by the character Richard plays in Uncle Vanya -Dr Astrov and his  love of  trees and nature.

I simply adore the frame (approx 5″ tall) for it’s vintage ,classical style. I designed the cross stitch  so that ‘Astrov’ grows up through the heart of the tree from the roots, which i felt fitting. This piece doesn’t have a home atm, but is going to wend it’s way to Guylty for this year’s Armitage Birthday Auctions! so start saving up!

Moody Dr Astrov by Graham Michael

Last, but no means least, is a piece made for a pal. She rather likes the actor  Tobias Menzies and she’s also partial to a proper cuppa (tea that is). So what better than a cross stitch that encompasses both things?! This is slightly bigger than my other pieces, but needed to be because of the design.

I think it’s also a useful saying for these particularly challenging times!

Where’s there’s tea….there’s hope!