Julia Rockwell
The first time I saw the price of a needlepoint canvas, my jaw genuinely dropped to the floor. A couple years ago, TikTok trends led me to the Penny Linn website, a popular needlepoint needs retailer. I was immediately intrigued, and I jumped headfirst into my journey with needlepoint, but it seemed insanely unreasonable that these tiny sheets of mesh cost the same as a pair of AirPods.Â
Of course, not only is needlepoint a fiber art, which in an era of prevalent AI usage and technology reliance is undervalued, but canvases are usually hand-painted. This drastically hikes up the price, and a majority of canvases go for anywhere from $30 to over $150, depending on the brand/maker, and length of the “stitch-painting” process, which depends on the complexity and size of the design. Additionally, the cost of premium threads can also drive up the overall cost. Many stitchers prefer brands such as Pepper Pot or Silk & Ivory due to higher quality and durability, or speciality qualities, such as sparkles, velvet, or decorative touches (Neon Rays, Very Velvet and Fyre Werks).Â
Canvases:
The biggest culprit of driving up prices are canvases from popular stores such as Penny Linn and my current favorite, Morgan Julia, can be incredibly painful on your wallet. There are definitely some work arounds, but this is the area with the least compromise for sure. One option is hand-painting a design yourself, which comes with the added benefit of being able to stitch anything you want beyond your wildest imagination. Obviously, this is a time consuming process, but the only costs would be associated with the painting supplies and base canvas, which usually only costs a couple of dollars. From there, there are multiple easily-accessible websites that you can upload an image to and will instruct you on which cross sections to paint to get your desired canvas. Another option is perusing Etsy or other similar sites to find screen-printed canvases, which also have a reduced price point, as the primary source of the high cost of canvases is the hand-painting.Â
Thread:
I won’t claim that a silk or a silk and wool blend aren’t super smooth and clean to stitch on a canvas, and the Internet loves to hate on the brand, but personally, a DMC cotton thread provides a very similar result in terms of the final product, and still provides a very satisfying experience. Whenever I want to mix in a unique texture or fun sparkle, I will just be strategic about my costs and select a few pricier threads to sprinkle throughout my work. Depending on the retailer, Pepper Pot and Silk & Ivory, two of the most popular threads, can cost approximately $8.00, give or take a couple dollars per skein. Many projects require upwards of 10-20 skeins, depending on the mesh size, canvas size and number of colors. DMC is probably the best option for affordable, yet still high-quality thread, and it generally goes for $0.50 to $1.00 at mainstream retailers and craft stores.
Accessories:
There are a wide variety of accessories that the needlepoint world has painted as being necessary to stitch. However, don’t let them fool you, you can be just as effective a stitcher without so many of the add-ons you see online. For example, you definitely do not need brand-name needlepoint scissors, normal will do just fine. A needle-minder to hold your needle on your canvas while idle is incredibly useful, but you don’t need 20 different designs. Project bags are again, useful to stay organized, but definitely not necessary if you are only working on a couple at a time and have access to other bags or Tupperware you can store them in if careful. For larger canvases, I do use stretcher bars in order to avoid a warping of the canvas over time, which is common depending on the stitch you use, and I personally feel as though they are worth it depending on the piece.