How We Started Needlepointing

As we prepare for our first launch of needlepoint canvases at Postcard Row, we thought it would be fitting to provide some backstory on what got us into needlepoint in the first place!

Isabella:

I was first introduced to needlepointing because two of my favorite bloggers, Carly and Krista, had been posting about it during the beginning of the 2020 pandemic. I am a crafty girl and had previously tried (and failed) to pick up both crocheting and knitting. Neither worked for me, but needlepointing looked easy enough for me to do. Since I was stuck at home anyway, and I couldn’t in good faith play Animal Crossing for 12 hours a day, I decided to pick up a lower tech hobby.

My first needlepoint project was a kit from Eva Howard Designs referencing one of my favorite shows at the time, Big Little Lies. If you haven’t seen it, Laura Dern’s character is a corporate diva who is dealing with divorcing her loser husband, and at one point loses it and screamed her iconic line: “I will not not be rich!” So of course, when I saw it as a needlepoint canvas, I had to buy it and stitch it. I had no idea what I needed when I purchased it, but because it was kitted, it came with everything I needed (aka a canvas, needle, and thread). I watched a how-to YouTube video from Needlepoint.com about the continental stitch and started stitching! At no point did I ever even consider how I would finish the canvas once it was done. Luckily, the canvas happened to be approximately a 5x7 piece. I bought a burlwood frame at Williams Sonoma matted to 5x7 and just stuck the canvas in its entirety in the frame. It’s a little warped (it was my first canvas after all!) but you can’t really tell since there is so much background on it. It still lives on my guest bedroom wall today, and the sentiment still stands! I love this canvas and will always reflect on it fondly as my first project and as an iconic saying I need to remind myself of every day.

Bridget: 

I was first introduced to needlepointing when I was in middle school. My parents used to drive my sister & I all over the midwest for soccer tournaments, and my mom would often have a needlepoint project that she would bring on those road trips. I decided that I wanted to try it, and I got a 4x4 round that said “Be Happy.” My mom taught me what to do and had it finished like an ornament for me, and it hung on my bedroom door for years. However, I got caught up in other things - sleepovers, dances, making collages of Brad Pitt, Ryan Gosling, and Chad Michael Murray to decorate my binders - and didn’t do any projects after that. 

Fast forward to 2020 (we all know what was going on then), and I wanted to do more than sit around. I felt this urge to be creative and make something, but options were limited with the pandemic and, living in a one bedroom with my husband, I didn’t want to have to buy a bunch of bulky supplies. I discovered Hannah Bass Needlepoint’s alphabet series and thought it could be fun to make one. I made a “C” that I put in an acrylic frame in our dining room, and we were off to the races! I quickly proceeded to do a “B” for my niece and an “L” for my nephew, a belt from Needlepaint.com for my dad. My stash is currently out of control, and I am loving it!

I love that needlepoint is an easy way for me to be creative. While it is pricey, the hours of joy I get out of a canvas make it worth it to me, and there nothing makes me happier than finding the perfect canvas for a friend and seeing their face when they open the gift!