She Made Just $2 An Hour Painting Needlepoint Canvases — Now Her Hobby Is A $10M Business

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Krista LeRay turned a pandemic-era hobby into a roughly $10 million business built around needlepoint, the craft of stitching decorative designs onto canvas.

Five years after launching Penny Linn Designs from her New York apartment, she told Business Insider in February that the brand had grown far beyond its early handmade canvases.

LeRay said social media and pop culture references helped bring younger customers into needlepoint.

The Orders Poured In. The Profit Didn’t

Penny Linn Designs sold $25,000 worth of painted canvases within two hours of launching online in September 2020, according to CNBC.

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But the early economics were difficult. LeRay had to paint each one by hand before shipping it. Each 4-inch-by-4-inch canvas sold for about $50 and took roughly six hours to paint. After spending about $7,000 on supplies, LeRay estimated she was earning around $2 an hour.

At the time, she was still working as a lifestyle blogger in New York, earning as much as $242,000 annually through brand partnerships and social media content. “It made me think this could never be my job, just because it’s so labor intensive,” she said.

The Pop Culture Designs That Helped The Craft Go Viral

LeRay told CNBC demand kept growing as more people turned to hands-on crafts during the COVID-19 pandemic. Penny Linn’s painted canvases gave customers a ready-made design they could stitch by hand.

She said the hobby gained even more momentum after needlepoint Christmas ornaments went viral on TikTok in 2023. Most Penny Linn Designs customers are under 35, and the company focuses on beginner-friendly patterns and what LeRay described as a “coastal preppy” aesthetic.

Penny Linn Designs now works with multiple designers whose canvases fit the brand’s style, with designs ranging from champagne bottles to Cape Cod chips and Taylor Swift quotes. The company also offers collaborations and tutorials for people new to needlepoint, according to its website.

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When Influencer Life Started Feeling Wrong

LeRay said her usual fashion and beauty content began feeling inappropriate during the pandemic. “It felt insensitive to be like, ‘This is what I’m wearing,’ when people were dying,” she told CNBC.

LeRay learned needlepoint from her grandmother and returned to the craft in early 2020. The hobby soon grew into a full-time business. For about 10 months, she painted, packed and shipped orders herself while watching television.

After moving to Connecticut with her husband and having her first son in 2022, LeRay told BI that she became less interested in sharing her personal life online and felt she had “hit my max” with influencing.

While Penny Linn Designs pays less than blogging once did, LeRay told CNBC the business and the community around it have become more creatively rewarding.

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The Needlepoint Store That Drew 5 A.M. Lines

Penny Linn Designs opened a 5,000-square-foot retail store in Norwalk, Connecticut, in March last year, according to CNBC.

LeRay said customers started lining up at 5 a.m. ahead of the 10 a.m. opening, with some waiting more than two hours. “I was unprepared to see our online community show up like that in real life,” she said.

The company has since expanded beyond its Norwalk store, opening its second location, Penny Linn New York early this month. It also introduced “The Penny Linn Podcast,” described as a longer-form version of LeRay’s TikTok “shareholder meetings.”

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