Walk into Stitchers Memphis on any given afternoon and you're likely to find a group gathered around the large white kitting table in the back, comparing thread colors and swapping stories about their latest projects. For owner Sarah Adams, that scene is the whole point.
Adams left a career in the medical field to purchase the local needlework shop, and she says the decision came down to something simple: stitchers need a place like this in their lives. "The ability to come into a store filled with threads, fabrics, charts and canvases you can see and touch is really a singular type of experience," she says.
That philosophy shaped a recent shop renovation. Adams and her husband, John, overhauled the lighting, removed the window coverings and gave up retail space for something they consider more valuable: a dedicated room for open stitching and classes.
Adams remembers exactly when she knew the space would become more than a store. On the second day the shop was open, she looked up from the register to find a crowd of stitchers gathered at the back table, trading threads and swapping project photos like old friends. "There it is," she remembers thinking. "THIS is why this shop is so important to our community." The shop now hosts monthly classes for beginners and beyond, brings in out-of-town teachers for specialty and finishing instruction and even opens its doors for the occasional Mah Jongg game.
The customer base has also been shifting. Adams has noticed a wave of younger stitchers coming through the door, including college students who travel from out of state to restock supplies or pick up their first project. She credits social media, especially TikTok, with much of the surge in interest over the past year and a half. Many of the new stitchers, she says, are looking for exactly the opposite of what got them hooked online. "We hear countless stories of stitching saving people from doom scrolling and hours 'wasted' on their phones," Adams says.
Lila Gsanger, a University of Tennessee student from Memphis, is part of that younger wave. She picked up cross-stitching in a high school art class, and she was hooked. "One class assignment turned into years of passion that continues to grow," she says. She has also found a way to merge the craft with her love of fashion, stitching her finished pieces onto anything in her closet she deems too “plain”- looking.
There's a wellness angle to the craft, too. A professor from a local university once told Adams that the repetitive hand and eye coordination involved in stitching mirrors EMDR therapy, a technique used to treat trauma. It's a detail that tracks with what she hears from customers every day: students stopping in for stress relief between classes, teachers grabbing a project before recess, healthcare workers picking up something to work on during a break.
Above all, Adams keeps coming back to one word: community. Stitchers bring birthday donuts to the shop on weekends, show off finished projects and occasionally bring in an "oops" piece to mourn together. Regulars who haven't been in for a while get a check-in call. Last April, the shop threw its first birthday party, complete with a food drive and giveaways. "My favorite thing about our birthday party is that it was filled with so many faces of our community," Adams says.
Stitchers Memphis carries an extensive range of threads, including silks, metallics, wools and specialty options like painted silk, along with needlepoint canvases from designers across the country and fabric for cross-stitch in hand-dyed and stock colors alike. The shop hosts monthly trunk shows, sends pieces out for professional finishing and sends its owner to industry markets each year to source what's new. For Adams, though, the inventory is secondary to what happens around it. "Community is the WHY behind Stitchers Memphis," she says.
Voices from the Stitching Community
Stitchers Memphis regulars share what keeps them coming back to the knitting table.
Linda Dombroski
“Needlepointing has exploded over the last few years. In this day of everything digital and the constant social media bombardment, people of all ages are turning to needlepoint to get off their phones and disconnect.”
Terri Sanders
“I love the relaxing nature of needlepoint and how you end up with a project that will last for generations.”
McKenzie Sandifer
“I started needlepointing during my freshman year of college nearly four years ago, and it quickly became my favorite way to unwind after a long day.”
Katie Walsh
“Needlepointing brings together people from all walks of life. It is a way to build community in a town that thrives on unity. Memphians are unique, authentic and creative.”
Kristi Johnson
“The needlepointing community is like Memphis — rich, poor, black, white, immigrants, long-time residents, patriots, rebels — all kinds of people. All coming together for a common purpose.”
"THIS is why this shop is so important to our community."
"We hear countless stories of stitching saving people from doom scrolling and hours of 'wasted' time on their phones."