Butterfly needpoint projects from Initial K Studio. Owner Kristi Larson embraces needlepoint’s growth through modern designs and community events.
Needlepoint is having a moment – and it’s lasting.
Like many other crafts, needlepoint had an uptick in popularity with the COVID pandemic. And it didn’t fade when we left our homes again.
I definitely started to see a rush of interest at the start of lockdown. Crafts in general saw a surge in sales and with everyone escaping to social media for their community fix it became easier to share the designs to lots of eyes,” said Emma Homent, owner and designer of The Makers Marks needlepoint kits
Knitting Knook Yarn & Needlepoint in Mequon, Wisconsin, saw a boost in interest in all its fiber arts with the pandemic.
“Customers who hadn’t stitched in years came back to it. This also brought new younger stitchers in,” said Knitting Knook owner Piper Melkonian. “Post COVID knitting, crocheting and needlepoint have had a resurgence, but particularly needlepoint.
And when the older customers have come back along with a younger (19-35) age group.
“My 26-year-old daughter really into it,” Melkonian said. “Whole sororities are getting together. It’s a social outlet.”
The Knitting Knook in Mequon, WI, has seen a surge in needlepoint interest, bringing both returning and new stitchers together.
Kristi Schroeder Larson, owner and designer, Initial K Studio, LLC. credits the post-COVID continuation of needlepoint’s popularity to social media.
Thanks to social media and TikTok, last year saw huge influx of needlepoint and shop owners have been talking about it. So I got on TikTok and saw a big group of stitchers there.”
Homent sees similar activity on other social media.
“The needlepoint community is really thriving on there. And there’s a desire for more long form video content too, with lots of ‘FlossTube’ channels appearing on YouTube. I’ve been working on stitch tutorials for Appleton Wool’s channel,” Homen said
Melkonian’s brick-and-mortar store has also benefited from the on-line influence.
“Social media has played a large part in younger people taking up needlepoint. Instagram and TikTok play a significant role in getting younger designers out to the public and bringing in new stitchers,” she said.
The majority of new stitchers seem to be younger — a lot have seen their older family members doing needlepoint over the years and have realized that there are now a lot of really innovative designers out there, Homen said.
“Alongside the rise in new stitchers has come a rise in new designers and a lot of these are very much catering to the new crowd. I find it really interesting that the mass manufactured craft kit companies are still pushing the same designs of old baskets of kittens and pastoral scenes.
“I’m 43 and my designs are very nostalgia driven to my lifetime, think mixtapes and cute candy. I’m not alone in my desire to stitch these things and although the audience is getting younger. I still sell a lot of kits to women in their 60s who are desperate for fresh colorful, vibrant designs to work on.”
Designers Kristi Larson (left) and Emma Homent (right) credit social media for needlepoint’s growing popularity among younger crafters.
The needlepoint resurgence is also being expressed through social gatherings and retreats. Modern versions of the quilting bees and knitting circles.
“After lockdown the stitch club culture really took off. I used to run a stitch club in London (now called Cheeky Stitchers), which was a chapter of a larger US network of stitch clubs,” Homent said.
“You can find them everywhere now, it’s really exciting. Retreats are on the rise, too, in fact I’m helping host one in the UK this spring for a lovely group of 25 Americans. We’ll be doing group classes, trips to the Royal School of needlework, it’s going to be really special. The tickets sold out in a couple of days, the appetite for these events is very much there.”
“There are definitely different clubs all around the country -based by city,” Larsen agreed, citing clubs in Austin and New York. And then there are a lot of retreats as well. I’ve gone to a few and it’s a lot of fun because you get to meet people from all over and we all have this love of needlepoint it’s really fun. Stitching calms my mind and then there’s the social aspect. You get to go and meet other people who love to do what you do.
“Shop owners are putting on retreats and sometimes attendees who meet there decide to do their own retreat by themselves. They’ll travel to a location where there’s a needlepoint shop and they make a whole weekend out of it.”
Shop owner Melkonian has seen this first-hand. “One day two friends came into needlepoint – two other women joined them – who didn’t know them or each other – and they stayed for an hour. Since then, they’ve gotten together again on their own.”
Homen says she’s seen an increase in sales with this increase in popularity.
“I’ve seen a big surge in my stitch book sales as people are looking to add their own spin on projects, and I’ve secured a US rep to help promote my kits Stateside. Kits are a really cost-effective way of getting into needlepoint. In the US hand-painted canvasses have been the most popular route for years, but they can be very cost prohibitive.”
“To keep the craft alive and bring in the next generation of stitchers we need to make sure we offer as many accessible ways in as possible.”
Larson and the Knitting Knook have also seen upticks.
“I think it’s a combination of people are now learning who I am and what I do and the fact that there are more people out there who are stitching.
“Our needlepoint classes are typically booked every week, and we have a waiting list. We have gone from one day a week for classes to two days a week,” Melkonian.
Larson sees a continued happy future for needlepointers.
“We always joke and say it’s half the work the cross stitchers do because you’re only doing one stitch. It’s an appeal definitely. And you know, for us, we’ve got the painted canvasses, so you don’t have to count or reference with a chart, and it just goes by a lot faster.”
Cathy Jakicic
contributor
Cathryn Jakicic has been writing about all things creative since working the late shift at Milwaukee’s morning newspaper right after college.She has worked at number of newspapers and magazines since, including Bead Style magazine; the Milwaukee Sentinel, where she wrote book, concert, theatre and film reviews for a number of years; and Trusted Media Brands, where she edited crafty and culinary creations for a number of titles. But her heart has always been with the crafter.