Needlepoint Finds a New Generation
The needle arts your grandmother loved are having a moment. This time, it’s twentysomethings and thirtysomethings leading the charge.
At Needle Point Breeze, Manager Loraine Kambic has watched the shift happen in real time. “In the past year, the granny hobbies have taken off,” she said. “There’s been a big, ‘I want to learn how to do this all over again,’ which is really kind of cool.”
Knitting, crocheting and needlepoint — the crafts once associated with an older generation — are pulling in younger stitchers drawn to designs that speak to their lives. Pop culture motifs, witty sayings and bold typography have replaced some of the traditional florals and landscapes on modern canvases.
“They like to do smaller pieces, and they like to do things that reflect upon their childhood,” Kambic said. “Anything that has a picture of a book they read or something like that, that stuff is popular. Snoopy is really popular right now, too.”
For many new stitchers, the appeal has less to do with the finished piece and more to do with what happens while they make it. Kambic said customers consistently tell her they picked up needlepoint to step away from their phones.
“They needed to get away from their phones for a little bit,” she said. “You can sit and talk to people while you do it. You’re not counting anything. You don’t have to have that 100% focus and watching what you’re doing. It’s a good thing to do while sitting around with friends.”
Abby Marodi, 31, founder of the Pittsburgh Needlepoint Corner, discovered needlepoint after a different needle art left her frustrated. She had learned cross-stitch from her mother, who has practiced the craft since at least the 1990s. She joined a craft club to meet people. The problem was the counting.
“I was in a previous craft club, and I had joined and was making all these friends. I’m pretty chatty, so I was losing count of my counting on my patterns because I wasn’t concentrating,” Marodi said.
Needlepoint solved that. Because stitchers work over a painted canvas rather than a blank grid, there is little risk of losing your place mid-conversation. “It allows you to be creative with a lot of stitches instead of the basic cross-stitch I was using before,” she said.
Marodi started needlepoint three years ago. Two years ago, she launched her club.
Her club began small, with just a couple of stitchers gathering together. It has since grown to more than 100 members who meet twice a month in the Strip District.
The group typically meets the second Sunday of the month from 10 a.m. to noon and the last Tuesday from 6 to 8 p.m. at Aslin Brewing, a spot Marodi chose because of its central location. Local needlepoint shops sometimes host stitch nights and special events for the club, including one this year at a Pittsburgh Pirates game. Marodi posts updates and event details on the club’s Instagram page, @pittsburghneedlepointcorner.
Marodi said crafting first became part of her life around graduate school, when she used it as a solitary way to unwind, a habit that carried her through the COVID-19 pandemic.
Needlepoint was different, though. “When I got into needlepoint, I wanted to expand into the community and meet new people,” she said. “I was meeting people my age with similar interests.”
She sees stitchers of every age in her group. However, she has noticed a particular pull among people her age and younger. “I wish I had needlepoint in college as an escape,” she said. “I think it’s great it’s reaching all ages now.”
Two motivations come up repeatedly among newcomers, Marodi said: a desire to put down their phones and a desire to make friends. “That’s one of my favorite parts about the club,” she said. “I’ve seen so many friendships forming. It’s great to see.”
For beginners intimidated by the craft, both women say the barrier to entry is lower than it looks. Needle Point Breeze offers small starter kits that include everything a first-timer needs — except scissors — starting at $25. Kambic recommends beginners choose a hand-painted canvas with fewer colors to help them find their rhythm. Cotton thread is ideal for those just starting out, though she personally favors silk for its smooth slide through canvas.
The shop teaches basketweave stitch to newcomers, a diagonal technique that locks a piece in tightly, making it durable enough for something like a seat cover. Everything else builds from that foundation.
Marodi echoed the advice to start simple. “Some of the stores and places online have beginner sections. I always recommend starting with those,” she said. She also suggests limiting the first project to a few colors and picking up basic thread and a pair of scissors to get going.
Patience matters as much as materials, according to Kambic. “What I tell everybody is take your time. Everything is one stitch at a time,” she said. It takes roughly an hour to complete a square inch of needlepoint, she said, a pace that is part of the draw rather than a drawback. “It slows you down, but in a good way. It’s very zen. It calms you down. I think that’s part of why people like to do it. It centers you and gives you that time to breathe that we all need.”
For Marodi, that meditative quality is still what keeps her coming back to the basics, even as her skills have advanced. “Sometimes, I just like doing the very basic stitches because I really like using needlepoint as a way to turn off my brain at night,” she said. “It’s my way to wind down after work.”
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