Western Pennsylvania's trusted news source
Porcupine Needlepoint Shop in Sewickley a long-standing business | TribLIVE.com
Allegheny

Porcupine Needlepoint Shop in Sewickley a long-standing business

JoAnne Klimovich Harrop
8479599_web1_sew-Porcupine-4
JoAnne Klimovich Harrop | TribLive
Nancy Schurman, a lifelong Sewickley resident, has owned The Porcupine Needlepoint Shop since 1996.
8479599_web1_sew-Porcupine-10
JoAnne Klimovich Harrop | TribLive
Examples of what can be made at The Porcupine Needlepoint Shop in Sewickley.
8479599_web1_sew-Porcupine-9
JoAnne Klimovich Harrop | TribLive
Holiday items can be made with materials from The Porcupine Needlepoint Shop in Sewickley.
8479599_web1_sew-Porcupine-6
JoAnne Klimovich Harrop | TribLive
Nutcracker needlepoint stand-ups at The Porcupine Needlepoint Shop in Sewickley.
8479599_web1_sew-Porcupine-5
JoAnne Klimovich Harrop | TribLive
The needlepoint canvas on the left can be made into the ornament on the right at The Porcupine Needlepoint Shop in Sewickley.
8479599_web1_sew-Porcupine-3
JoAnne Klimovich Harrop | TribLive
Pittsburgh and Sewickley ornament canvases at The Porcupine Needlepoint Shop in Sewickley.
8479599_web1_sew-Porcupine-2
JoAnne Klimovich Harrop | TribLive
Create your own needlepoint shop to represent The Porcupine Needlepoint Shop in Sewickley.
8479599_web1_sew-Porcupine
JoAnne Klimovich Harrop | TribLive
Selections of needlepoint canvases at The Porcupine Needlepoint.
8479599_web1_sew-Porcupine-1
JoAnne Klimovich Harrop | TribLive
The Porcupine Needlepoint Shop on Beaver Street in Sewickley.
8479599_web1_sew-Porcupine-13
JoAnne Klimovich Harrop | TribLive
A stand-up Heinz Ketchup bottle is one of the choices at The Porcupine Needlepoint Shop in Sewickley.
8479599_web1_sew-Porcupine-12
JoAnne Klimovich Harrop | TribLive
Feeling nostalgic? A Clark candy-inspired needlepoint stand-up can be made with materials from The Porcupine Needlepoint Shop in Sewickley.

Nancy Schurman will keep you in stitches — she will make you laugh and also teach you how to do some of the finest needlepoint.

Owner of one of Sewickley’s oldest businesses, The Porcupine Needlepoint Shop, she guides customers on how to select a hand-painted needlepoint canvas and use tapestry needles and fibers to create everything from Christmas stockings to purses, belts, pillows, coasters, eye-glass cases, advent calendars, liquor bottles, picture frames and more.

The store is bursting with hundreds of choices of needlepoint canvases, including a custom canvas of your pet made from a photo. There is a room full of bright and bold fibers in wool, silk, cotton and lots of sparkle.

8479599_web1_sew-porcupine-8
JoAnne Klimovich Harrop | TribLive
Selections of fibers at The Porcupine Needlepoint Shop in Sewickley.

Schurman works with local or national companies that will “finish” the completed canvas and turn it into a final product.

“You just feel good when you walk in here because it’s just so colorful,” said Dorothy Pusateri of Sewickley, who is currently making a large stand up Santa Claus. “Nancy’s taste is wonderful. Needlepoint is fun and it is relaxing and you can continually learn new stitches.”

8479599_web1_sew-porcupine-11
JoAnne Klimovich Harrop | TribLive
Customer Dorothy Pusateri is working on this Santa Claus project from The Porcupine Needlepoint Shop in Sewickley.

Pusateri learned needlepoint from her father. She started with making holiday stockings and often works on more than one project at the same time.

”Needlepoint is a craft you can do all your life,” said Schurman, a lifelong Sewickley resident who fell in love with the art from her mother, Nancy Burtch. “So many people have a love of needlepoint and we are seeing some younger stitchers. It’s a generational craft.”

Laura Pangburn of Sewickley Heights was dropping off an ornament of a bride and groom to be finished so she can give it to her daughter, who is getting married later this year. While in the shop, she picked up an ornament her daughter had made.

“I love this shop,” said Pangburn. “I always feel welcome and they keep me going by encouraging me. Nancy is wonderful and has an eye for this work.”

8479599_web1_sew-porcupine-14
JoAnne Klimovich Harrop | TribLive
Customer Laura Pangburn shows an ornament her daughter made at The Porcupine Needlepoint Shop in Sewickley.

Because holiday items are some of the most popular, those choices are up all year to allow people to continuously work on stockings, ornaments and gifts. It can take weeks to several months to get something finished.

Ornament canvases start at $30.

Schurman can look at a canvas and know the correct colors and how much of each fiber a customer will need. She then goes to a back room filled with fibers to help a customer choose what works for a particular project. She buys from 75 different vendors.

“I come in and drop something off to be finished and then I see something else I want to try and make,” said Pangburn.

There is something for every skill level and so much you can do with needlepoint, said Nina Snyder, a sales associate from Sewickley, who has worked at the shop for five years and been doing needlepoint for five decades.

8479599_web1_sew-porcupine-7
JoAnne Klimovich Harrop | TribLive
Owner Nancy Schurman, (center) and sales associate Nina Snyder (left) consult with customer Dorothy Pusateri about a project at The Porcupine Needlepoint Shop in Sewickley on May 6 .

The store opened in 1972.

For most of its time, it has been in the current location.

“There are very few towns like this in the country,” said Schurman, who has owned the store since 1996, and has a co-partner Barbara Ward, a former Sewickley resident, who handles the books from her Florida residence. “It is home and people are so friendly. Customers come from all over to shop at this store. I love that.”

Schurman said she likes that needlepoint is about creating something with your hands and it keeps her away from her smartphone and computer.

“What you make is beautiful,” said Schurman. “And it is an art that you do for a long time. It is very relaxing and good for the heart rate and blood pressure. I try to make it creative and fun.”

JoAnne Klimovich Harrop is a TribLive reporter covering the region's diverse culinary scene and unique homes. She writes features about interesting people. The Edward R. Murrow award-winning journalist began her career as a sports reporter. She has been with the Trib for 26 years and is the author of "A Daughter's Promise." She can be reached at jharrop@triblive.com.

Remove the ads from your TribLIVE reading experience but still support the journalists who create the content with TribLIVE Ad-Free.

Get Ad-Free >

Categories: Allegheny | Lifestyles | Sewickley Herald
Content you may have missed