Inside Look: The Red Stitch gives needlepointers a place to shop and hang

Follow the rainbow of colored threads to The Red Stitch, a new needlepoint shop and social space now open on Jefferson Highway. 

The new space, located inside Jefferson Plaza next to Café Americain, is a stitcher’s paradise, packed with retail items including canvases, threads, needlepoint accessories, self-finishing pieces and needleminders. But The Red Stitch also aims to be more than a store, offering comfy nooks and tucked-away spaces for stitchers and other creatives to socialize or find reprieve from the hustle and bustle outside.  

After finishing her first needlepoint project a little over a year ago (and immediately buying three more canvases), owner Sarah Edgecomb realized that she wanted to create something that gave her newfound hobby space and also provided a place for the community to enjoy. 

“I got bit by the needlepoint bug big time,” she says. “I fell in love with it. It was so relaxing, and it was just something to do with my hands that got me off my phone. It relaxed me, and I got to make something pretty. I love a good craft.”

Edgecomb soft-launched her new business with a smaller space that was also on Jefferson Highway. She held a grand opening for her permanent spot on Aug. 8, which was attended by a horde of stitchers, many of whom waited in a line that wrapped the building before doors officially opened. 

“[The first location] was still homey and sweet, but this is like I finally got to put my stamp on it,” she says. “It just makes me happy with all the colors and textures and interiors, including all of the canvases and threads.” 

The new shop doubles the space of The Red Stitch’s first home, with 2,000 square feet for shoppers and needlepointers to spread out. Right past the door, decorated in the shop’s logo, is a “living area” with a comfy couch and chairs to the left and a wall of threads to the right. Latticework on the wall mimics the grid of a canvas, while pops of pink and burgundy call to The Red Stitch’s signature color scheme. 

Beyond the entrance, shoppers’ eyes immediately go to the floor-to-ceiling pink wall covered in canvases. Both big and small projects are pinned here, with subjects ranging from pop culture and witty phrases to food items and LSU. Canvases are lined with bias tape in either pink, denoting 13-mesh, or burgundy for 18-mesh. 

“[The canvases] are just art,” she says. “These are handpainted pieces and people’s designs, and I just wanted to showcase them and give the customers a wonderful experience.” 

Other details include a wall dedicated to 13-mesh threads and a separate one for 18-mesh so customers can easily find what they need. A metal wall panel displays magnetic needleminders in the shapes of claw clips, Tootsie Rolls, pickleball paddles and swans. A larger checkout/service counter stands in the middle of this main area, and toward the back, a room dedicated to stitching, classes and mahjong is tucked away. 

This area features tables that can be kept apart or pushed together for big groups. The pink wallpaper features swirling white lines that reminded Edgecomb of threads. Eight capital-F-finished needlepoint projects in the likenesses of celebrities like Ina Garten, Taylor Swift, and Kate Middleton hang in colorful matted frames, each stitched by one of Edgecomb’s friends. 

Other decorative needlepoint pieces include another framed piece that Edgecomb found at an antiques shop and an old wooden chair with a delicately needlepointed cushion. Still more finished pieces are dotted throughout the shop, showing needlepointers what their next project can look like after finishing. 

The Red Stitch also has plenty of nods to its Louisiana home. Its logo features a fleur-de-lis framed by sugarcane stalks. When customers come in to kit their projects, they can grab a branded white tray—reminiscent of a crawfish tray—to spread out their choices. Customers and shop regulars are referred to as the Stitch Krewe. But the biggest nod is in the shop’s name, which is a playful spin on Baton Rouge’s nickname, The Red Stick.

“Whether you’re a basket weave girl or decorative stitch girl, or you don’t follow the rules and just kind of go off and do whatever, everything turns out so beautifully,” Edgecomb says. “I think Baton Rouge just wanted a beautiful space where they can make beautiful things and look at beautiful things.” 

Find all of the beautiful needlepoint things at The Red Stitch’s new spot at 7517 Jefferson Hwy. The shop is open Tuesday and Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Thursday and Friday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.