Not your Grandma’s cross stitch
Etsy crafter Katie Kutthroat brings crass to the craft scene
Katie Kutthroat doesn’t think you should take life — or cross-stitching — too seriously. The American crafter has hustled her satirical and raunchy wares on her Etsy shop since 2008 and, this month, launched a book of her best work, Bless this Mother-effing Home. We caught up with her over the phone from Denver.
Kutthroat, 35, picked up the needle at her aunt’s place in Alabama when she was just 14 and was later inspired in her 20s by Julie Jackson, owner of the Subversive Cross-Stitch shop. “I thought, (this) doesn’t have to just be like BLESS THIS HOME or JESUS SAVES,” she told the Star. “So I started taking quotes I thought were funny or that were super satirical, or that looked like grandma did it but grandma was raunchy and funny.”
Kutthroat does cross-stitch as a side hustle. “Unfortunately, I have to have a job and work at Starbucks. This is totally a passion project,” she said. “But someone once told me that if you can’t make a living doing what you love, make a living and continue doing what you love . . . I love doing things with my hands. I take great pride in making something from nothing.”
Coming from a conservative, Southern Baptist, Republican family, Kutthroat admits she is the “black sheep” of the family. “A good portion of my family won’t really address (my business),” she said. “I don’t think they fully appreciate it.”
In the beginning, Kutthroat said that for every10 to15 instances of positive affirmation she got about her subversive crafts, she would get one comment telling her she would burn in hell. “I don’t take anything like that seriously,” she told the Star. “Life is too short.” She said she was only trying to be different from the “uppity Bible quotes” that most cross-stitch patterns are recognized for.
Before the launch of Season 1, Kutthroat’s work got noticed by set designers on the HBO series Girls and they asked her to stitch some pieces to put on set.
“Best F------ Friends Forever,” “YOU’RE A HOOKER” and “JUST SAYING” all made it to protagonist Hanna Horvath’s apartment.
On her Etsy store, Kutthroat sells her cross-stitch, takes custom orders and also does custom requests. “What’s really cool is that I’ve had a few people tell me that they’ve taken up cross-stitching after coming across my patterns,” she said. “Creativity bleeds creativity. I try to surround myself with people who inspire me and hope to continue to inspire other people. One of the best things about life is creating something that will outlive you.”
In a world of instant gratification, Kutthroat thinks people gravitate to craft because it’s “punk rock and cool to say you made that or did that, and give it your own twist as opposed to going out and buying it.” She’s noticed a spike in the DIY community in the past 10 years, too.
Kutthroat says her upbringing made her “really appreciate laughter when things are rough.” She said she thinks people take life too seriously. “So what can you do? Get worked up and let things control you and alter your mood, or laugh as much as you can.”
Her two books — one of postcards and the other a picture book of her patterns — launched this month.
Her publisher, Sourcebooks, approached Kutthroat after they found her Etsy shop online. “I had crazy luck with that,” she said.
Moving forward, Kutthroat hopes to offer up other creative wares, more patterns and to eventually get into sewing. “We’ll have to see,” she said. “I’m like that kid with too much stuff on his plate and can only finish half of it. My eyes are bigger than my stomach.”
Find her online at kutthroat.etsy.com.
“What’s really cool is that I’ve had a few people tell me that they’ve taken up cross-stitching after coming across my patterns.” KATIE KUTTHROAT