How Karly Santiago Put a Modern Spin on an Old-School Craft and Created a Business

Karly Santiago creates heirloom-worthy cross-stitch portraits. When she realized she could turn her hobby into a company, she took a break from working as a birth doula to start Cloth & Twig. 

Karly’s love of her craft shines through in every piece her work, but it was learning how to navigate social media that really got things moving for her — and her business. We got the lowdown from Karly on how she juggles motherhood with full-time crafting, and how Star Wars led to the launch of her business.

Name: Karly Santiago

Business: Cloth & Twig

Started: 2014

What inspired you to create Cloth & Twig?

About two years ago, a friend sent me a cross-stitch of Star Wars characters as a gift, because I love the films. I ended up taking it apart and figuring out how to do it myself. 

The first one took me months to finish and it wasn’t perfect, but it helped me work out how to cross-stitch on my own. My very first piece was a portrait of my family, and it made me think it would be cute to offer my doula clients something similar as a gift or as a special piece they could purchase to celebrate the birth of their child.

Soon after that, I decided that I wanted to take a break from working as a birthing assistant. I decided to share a cross-stitch piece on my personal Facebook page at a really low price to see if anyone was interested. 

Well, within two hours I had six orders! After that I was still getting inquiries, so I raised the price. I had two more orders and ten more inquiries by the end of that first day. 

I remember saying to my husband when he got home, “I think I started a business today.”

Who was your very first customer?

My first customers were my friends and family. When I told one of my initial clients that it would take about six weeks to make and ship their purchase, they were totally fine with it — and wanted to order two more. 

I set up my Etsy shop to help filter the orders and it’s been nonstop since then. I’ve done about 60 portraits so far, and I love it. 

When did you know your business was going to work?

When I had so many orders right off the bat, I knew I was onto something. 

Part of it was the fact that I priced the pieces so low because I wanted to improve my skills and build a portfolio, but there was also obvious interest in and demand for what I was making. I just needed to get the business side in order — like finding a more sustainable price point while also perfecting my stitching.

How do you price your products?

Time is the biggest factor because every portrait I make takes at least 8 hours. I have some pieces that have taken 30 hours over the course of weeks. My time is worthwhile, and the price of my cross-stitches reflects that. Then there’s the cost of materials, which is pretty low, and shipping as well.

That being said, I don’t charge by the hour because it would make my products so much more expensive. My biggest piece is a cross-stitched pillow and it costs something like $250. It took forever to make! But, it will be harder to sell if I factor the number of hours it took to stitch into the price. 

Every portrait I make takes a different amount of time. I’ve set my prices at a point where I know it will be sustainable for me to continue making pieces and for people to continue buying them.

What has been the biggest surprise so far after starting your own business?

I was a little shocked that running my own creative company was so different from running my doula business. But what really surprised me about Cloth & Twig was the encouragement I got from the "maker" community. 

It’s important that makers who do this for a living really turn it into their business rather than just a hobby, so I think I expected more of a competitive nature. There are other people who do what I do — make cross-stitch family portraits — but there’s still a community feeling. We all want each other to succeed, and just because someone else is doing well doesn’t mean you won’t. 

It’s really important to have that outlook, but it was something that really surprised me — how nice everybody is and how supported I’ve been.

What does a typical day look like for you?

I’m usually up by 6:30am because my oldest daughter, who is six, goes to school. I’ll have my preschooler daughter with me, and together we’ll drop my eldest off at school. 

Then we come home and I’ll do as much work as I can. I have to balance taking care of my youngest and doing housework with all the daily tasks listed in my planner. 

When my daughter gets out of school, I send them both off for quiet time while I get another hour or so of work done. 

My husband will usually get home around 5pm, and we’ll have dinner and some family time. The kids go to bed at 8pm and then I usually work some more. If I’ve hit my goals for the day, I’ll take a break.

What would you like to learn today from a community of other small business owners and self-employed professionals?

I’d like to learn about the personal side of other people’s stories. What motivated them to start their business, and how did they take the first step?

Do you have a story to share with Karly about how you started your business?

What path did you take when you started your business? What gave you the push you needed to take that first step?

Share your own experiences with us below! :-)