53 PROFILE When did you join the company? I joined Bothy Threads in 2013; having crafted all my life and grown up helping in my family’s haberdashery shop it was inevitable that I’d end up in the craft industry. I studied business management, marketing, and finance at university and so knew I could help Bothy Threads develop on a business and creative level. I hope to keep building on all the fantastic work Kate and John have already achieved at Bothy Threads. How has the company evolved? Kate set off with classic designs in cross stitch like Van Gogh’s Sunflowers and The Bayeux Tapestry. However, we soon moved on to the bright and colourful cross stitch designs we’re known for today. We now work with many talented artists like Rachel Froud, Sally King, Wrendale Designs, Amanda Loverseed and Julia Rigby, to name but a few, and produce around 140 new designs each year. What do you specialise in? For many years, Bothy Threads has specialised in transforming the artwork of well-known current artists like Hannah Dale and more classic artists like William Morris into beautiful cross stitch masterpieces. We’ve taken cross stitch to the next level by allowing our customers to personalise their stitching or match it to their home décor. We hope that by selecting on trend artists we can keep our ranges popular. Talk us through the current products you’re particularly excited about. Do you have a favourite? In 2021 we launched the first designs in the Shoe Art range by Sally King, transforming her fabulous footwear into creative cross stitch designs! The shoes are cleverly disguised within the artwork using flora and fauna, even ice cream cones and spiderwebs feature! These are proving to be very popular with our stitchers and we look forward to working on more of Sally’s designs in our next new collections. Do your products suit all levels of crafters? Yes, with more than 800 designs, we have kits to suit everyone from beginners through to more advanced stitchers. Craft has boomed over the last year! Have you noticed any new trends? We’ve noticed a huge increase in new stitchers over the past few years, with people spending more time at home and looking for something to keep themselves busy. We’ve received wonderful feedback from customers new and old, remarking on how our kits have provided an escape during such difficult times. It really makes all our hard work worthwhile.
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