Questions

The questions I am asked most often, answered the way I would answer them across the table. If yours is not here, please do not hesitate to write to me at atelier@pierrepontneedlepoint.com; I answer within two business days, and I would always rather hear from you early than have you wonder.

The Canvases

Are your canvases hand-painted or printed?

Every design is drawn by hand in the studio and then printed onto the canvas, so that each one is exact, the colors are true from canvas to canvas, and a set collected over a year matches itself. Printing is also what allows a canvas to be offered at the price it is, and to be reprinted when a design sells through. A printed canvas is worked exactly as a painted one is; the needle does not know the difference.

What mesh are they?

Fourteen, sixteen, or eighteen mesh, and every listing says which. The number is the count of holes to the inch: the higher it is, the finer the canvas and the smaller the finished detail. Eighteen is the studio's most common, and it holds fine work beautifully; fourteen is the mesh I choose for beginner canvases and for custom monograms, because the holes are easy to see and each stitch covers ground.

What is the difference between the design size and the canvas size?

The design size is the worked area itself, the number given in the listing. The canvas you receive is larger than that, with a margin of bare mesh on every side; the margin is what stretcher bars hold and what a finisher needs to block and construct the piece, so please do not trim it.

How long does a canvas take?

It depends on the mesh, the size, and your evenings. A four-inch beginner canvas at fourteen mesh is a weekend; a six-inch Spice Village house at eighteen mesh is a week or two of quiet evenings; a ten-inch hydrangea is a season. The skill level on each listing is a fair guide to which is which.

What do the skill levels mean?

Beginner canvases have a few colors, clear areas, and a printed edge to follow; they can be completed with the two basic stitches and nothing else. Intermediate canvases ask for more colors and more changes of thread, and for a steadier hand at the outlines. Advanced canvases are the finest work, with shading, small areas, and eighteen-mesh detail that rewards patience. None of them requires a stitch you cannot learn from the Stitch Guide.

Kits and Threads

What comes in a kit?

Everything needed to begin the evening it arrives: the canvas, hand-selected threads in every color the design calls for, a printed color key with the thread guide and strand count, a tapestry needle sized to the mesh, a needle threader, a pair of golden stork embroidery scissors, and a mesh bag to keep the project together. Stretcher bars are the one thing not included, since the size depends on the design you choose; each listing says which bars it wants.

What is the difference between the thread options?

The choice is less about difficulty than about the character you want the completed piece to have. DMC Pearl Cotton is the classic: more than five hundred colors, a soft luminosity, and the most economical way to build a collection. Pepper Pot Silk is dyed by hand, a single strand of pure silk, and gives a finished piece the gleam of satin. Radiance is a metallic that catches the light the way candlelight does, and it is the choice for holiday and celebration canvases. Every kit arrives with a printed color key, whichever thread you choose.

Will there be enough thread?

Yes. Each kit is cut for its canvas with a margin for the way a real hand works, and the color key tells you how many strands each color wants so that nothing is guessed at.

Can I buy the canvas alone?

Every design is offered as a canvas alone, for those who would rather choose their own threads or kit it at their local shop.

Tools

Which stretcher bars do I need?

A pair of bars four inches longer than each side of the design, so that the margin has something to hold: an eight-by-eight design takes two pairs of twelve-inch bars, a six-by-six takes two pairs of ten-inch. Each canvas listing gives the sizes for every design size it is sold in, and the bars and tacks are offered beside it.

Which needle?

A tapestry needle, blunt-tipped, in a size suited to the mesh: size 20 for fourteen mesh, size 22 for sixteen and eighteen. Every kit includes the right one, and the listings suggest it for a canvas bought alone.

Do I have to use stretcher bars?

You do not, and many needleworkers prefer to work in hand. Bars keep the canvas square as the work grows, which matters most on larger pieces and on Continental, whose tension pulls a canvas on the bias; a small canvas worked in Basketweave will usually stay true without them.

Ordering and Shipping

When will my order ship?

In-stock canvases, kits, and tools are packed and posted from the Brooklyn studio within five to seven business days, and tracking arrives by email as soon as the parcel is on its way. Standard shipping is free on orders of $125 or more, $8 below that, and express shipping is $15 on any order.

Do you ship outside the United States?

Not yet as a matter of course. If you are abroad and would like a canvas, write to me and I will do what I can.

What is a preorder?

Some canvases are printed in scheduled runs rather than kept on the shelf, and those are offered for preorder. They typically take four to six months to arrive, an order placed by the first of October is expected by the first of March, and you may cancel at any time before the canvas ships for a full refund. If your order holds both in-stock and preorder canvases, the in-stock ones go out first, and you are charged shipping once.

Can I return a canvas?

Within thirty days of delivery, provided the canvas has not been worked and any thread is unopened, since a canvas that has been worked cannot be offered to anyone else. Custom and personalized canvases cannot be returned, and neither can Finishing once it has begun. Write to me with your order number and I will send the address before you post anything; the full terms are in the Refund Policy.

Finishing

What is Finishing?

A worked canvas is not yet a finished object. Finishing is the work of blocking it back to true and constructing it into the thing it was meant to be: an ornament, a pillow, a stocking, a stand-up for a shelf. Pierrepont finishes its own designs and canvases from elsewhere, and the treatments, prices, and turnaround are all on the Finishing page.

How much does it cost, and how long does it take?

The price is set by the treatment and the longest dimension of your design, from $92 for a small ornament of a Pierrepont design or $115 for a canvas from elsewhere, and it includes the return postage on the finished piece. Turnaround is approximately six weeks from the day the canvas reaches us; gusseted stand-ups and custom work may take a little longer.

Will you finish a canvas that is not one of yours?

Yes. Every treatment carries two prices, one for Pierrepont designs and one for other canvases, and you choose the one that applies when you order. If you are unsure whether your canvas suits the treatment, write to me first with a photograph and the finished dimensions and I will tell you what we can do.

What should I do before I send my canvas?

Leave at least two inches of bare canvas on every side, and do not trim, press, or block the piece yourself; that work is ours. Post it by a tracked service within thirty days of placing the order, since a completed canvas represents many hours of your work and is worth protecting.

Custom Work

Do you make custom canvases?

Monograms, yes: three initials of your choosing, in the size and mesh the listing offers, made to order. Original commissions for individual needleworkers I am not taking at present; shops and retailers may commission designs held exclusively for them, and the terms are on the Wholesale page.

Wholesale

Do you sell to shops?

Gladly. Pierrepont canvases are carried by needlepoint shops across the country, and new accounts open by email; write with the subject line Wholesale Inquiry and I will answer within two business days with the catalog and the terms. Everything is on the Wholesale page.

Learning

I have never done needlepoint. Where do I begin?

Begin at the Library, which is written for exactly that: what a first canvas needs, what the words mean, how the two stitches go, and which canvas I would put in your hands first. The Beginner Canvases shelf is arranged in the order I would hand them to a friend, and each is available as a kit so that nothing needs to be guessed at.

Do I need to know more than one stitch?

Two: Continental for the shapes and Basketweave for the backgrounds, and with those two you can complete any Pierrepont canvas. Both are on cards in the Stitch Guide, with a printable version to keep in your project bag.