Creativity radiates off the rainbow walls of Baton Rouge’s newest needlepoint shop. 

The Red Stitch opened in the Jefferson Plaza shopping center on Jefferson Highway in August, and the brick-and-mortar is about so much more than just shopping. It’s about connecting.

From open stitching classes to mahjong events, owner Sarah Edgecomb is hoping to build the creative sanctuary she has long been looking for, while making friends and building community in the process.

Two summers ago, Edgecomb got the idea to turn her business background and LSU finance degree into a passion project by combining the practical skills with her creative pursuits.

“I was at our lake house when I picked up a canvas from a kit I had ordered online, and I just loved it,” she says of her first encounter with needlepoint. “I immediately ordered three more kits.”

Eager to experience the joy of the craft with others, her mind immediately went to a communal space for learning and connecting. After visiting similar concepts, she knew her idea was viable, but she wanted to do it with a signature twist. In her new space, curated with grandma’s couch-cushions coziness, Edgecomb invites new and old stitchers, or her “Stitch Krewe,” to hang out, shop around and learn from one another.

“Everybody gets so excited about other people’s projects,” she says.

The beauty of the store glows from the sparkling threads and Edgecomb’s genuine energy. The hand-painted canvases with imaginative designs make every piece of inventory an artwork before stitching even begins, Edgecomb says. There’s something for everyone in the store. Football fans can chip away at a “Geaux Tigers” patch. New moms can craft a “Baby Sleeping” sign. And collegiate ladies can stitch their sorority letters.

“There’s just dopamine hits as soon as you walk in the door,” she says. “The colors are everywhere. I mean, how can you be unhappy in this store?”

While the reason behind the hobby’s sudden popularity is up for debate, Edgecomb has her own ideas as to why people are picking up a needle and thread and putting down their phones.

“It is so easy to get sucked into our devices and scroll,” she says. “But this gives your brain a break. And I think people, in their minds and in their bodies, crave it, even subconsciously.”

According to Edgecomb, there’s something special about the way people engage with the focused craft. It keeps minds sharp and people connected to one another.  “We all play off each other’s energies,” she says.

Central to Red Stitch’s mission, Edgecomb says she wants to build community by sharing the relaxing power of needlepoint.

“When I have an overwhelming day … I can sit down for 20 minutes and literally stitch just one full thread, and I can kind of get recentered,” she says.

Red Stitch is located at 7517 Jefferson Highway. For more information on classes and events, visit theredstitch.com.