While many of us no doubt remember cute, framed cross-stitched pictures or sayings hanging on the walls, or placed on the couch as comfy cushion covers, of our childhood haunts, some women are now crossing the delicate craftwork with a far cheekier view of life, and they’re very popular on craft sales sites such as Etsy.com.
Gone are doe-eyed kittens and statements celebrating the fact that ‘home is where the heart is’, in favour of phrases that involve quite a bit of cussing and a very feminist view of life. There’s even a site called Subversive Cross-stitch that sells all the equipment any modern gal could need to whip up her own pithy wall-hanging.
StephXstich, who posts her creations on Instagram and sell both patterns and finished pieces on Etsy, has had her designs featured in publications as varied as Good Housekeeping and Crafter News to Millennial sites such as Buzzfeed and Mashable.
The US artist and teacher says she learned how to cross-stitch from her grandmother and mother as a child but only got back into it as a hobby 20 years later in order to make unique presents for friends and family.
“I especially get a kick out of making traditional samplers with naughty words and pop-culture reference,” she says on her site. “I also love the meditative and therapeutic benefits of stitching.”
This is some of her work, and that of other keen ‘modern’ cross-stitchers who post on Instagram. Beware: some of this craft is NSFW!
This article originally appeared on Starts at 60.
