In the beginning...

Welcome to my Blog - what will become the home of stitchy news, geek-dom trivia, fangirl squeels and other general ramblings.

Who am I?

I'm Ros, the owner, designer, stitcher, photographer, curator, PA, media advisor  and general dogs-body of Fangirl Stitches - cross stitch patterns for the geeky stitcher.  I'm Australian, an OT, a Christian, a theatre-lover, a reader, a traveller, a little OCD, a sister, a daughter, a nice, a cousin... not necessarily in that order.

I'm a cross-stitcher

I learnt to stitch when I was (almost) 13, at a Christian summer camp for girls the month before I started high school.  What started out as a passing interest soon became an obsession and I was "borrowing" my mother's kits, patterns and other stitching supplies to create what soon became a pile of cross-stitched pieces.  I soon learnt the art of gifting them to family and friends!  I stitched just about anything I could get my hands on, even happily finishing patterns and kits for friends and family that they had bought but never started/finished.  These days my stitching tastes are a bit more focused, with themes including mythology, fantasy, science-fiction, early 20's fashion, and increasingly my own designs.  I still stitch a lot of presents for friends and family - wedding and birth samplers are becoming more common.

One of the first kits I stitched - 2000-ish

My first foray into dyed fabrics - Dimension's Angel of Dreams - 2006 

I'm a Geek.  Loud and proud.

I get it from my parents.  And my younger brothers.  Predominantly Doctor Who, Discworld, and Harry Potter, but I also love Sherlock, Firefly, Buffy, Angel, Charmed, Lord of the Rings, and Star Wars.  I'm slowly learning the world of Star Trek through the new films.  There are probably plenty of others that will come out over time.  While in the UK: I went to the Harry Potter studio tour (twice), Wincanton (the town officially twined with Ankh Morpork, walked on the set of the TARDIS, and followed the steps of the Potter film crew from western Ireland to northern Scotland to south-eastern England.

Dressing up as Harry Potter for a Uni event in 2004

With David Tennant's TARDIS in Cardiff, 2013

On the set of Diagon Alley at the Warner Bros' Studio's Making of Harry Potter

I'm a geeky stitcher.... or is a stitching geek?

It was only natural that these two obsessions of mine would eventually merge.  The first really geeky pattern I remember stitching was one of Death from Discworld, which I designed for my brother using one of Paul Kidby's designs.  I really struggled finding sci-fi patterns that fitted my interest, and looked good!  So many I found didn't fit the picture in my head.  It wasn't until I moved in England in 2011 that I discovered the world of Etsy and on-line patterns.  But there still weren't enough that I wanted to stitch, either for myself or my friends.  So I started designing my own: larger designs, kitch designs, designs that came together quickly yet still looked impressive, designs that were fun to stitch!

I designed and stitched this for a friend and fellow Whovian when her baby was born

 Now I sell my patterns on Etsy.

People admired my stitching and my designs.  People said they'd like to stitch them too.  Thus, Fangirl Stitches (the shop) was born.  And now the Blog, so I can share my passion for stitching and geek-dom and fangirl-awesomeness with the rest of the world.

For these and more of my patterns, check out Fangirl Stitches the Etsy Store, follow me on twitter, or find me on Facebook and Pinterest.

Happy Stitching!!