Needlepoint Finishing: What It Costs and How Long It Takes

The part of needlepoint you usually send out: what it costs, how long it takes, and why the holiday deadlines fall months ahead.

Finishing is what turns a stitched canvas into a pillow, a stocking, or an ornament. It is skilled sewing, done by a specialist, and it costs real money.

It also takes months. Lycette Designs in Palm Beach estimates six months for a stocking and eight to nine for a pillow, so know the timing before you start a project with a date attached to it.

The deadlines are earlier than you think

If you are stitching something for Christmas, the date to worry about is nowhere near December. Finishers set cutoffs months ahead, and one finisher can set different cutoffs for different items.

Needlepoint.Com, which has shops in Charleston and Raleigh, publishes its holiday cutoffs. For Christmas 2026 they were:

• Ornaments, stand-ups, and picture frames. April 16
• Belts. August 1
• Pillows. August 14, or August 26 for specialty pillows
• Traditional stockings and stocking toppers. September 1

Those are one shop's dates, and other finishers set their own. Lycette Designs set its 2026 holiday deadlines at April 1 for pillows and May 10 for its other soft finishes, stockings among them.

If you are reading this in the fall and hoping for a stocking under the tree this year, the deadlines we found have passed. Start next year's holiday piece in the spring, and ask your shop for its cutoff dates before you buy the canvas rather than after you finish stitching it. Our stocking guide covers what you can still do this year.

What finishing costs

Prices vary by finisher, by size, and by how much shaping the piece needs. These prices come from four listed shops' published finishing lists, read in September 2026. Three of the four give starting prices, and one prices by size.

• Ornaments. From $50 for a flat ornament at Knot the Point Needleworks in Tampa, $55 for the smallest cookie ornament, up to 9 square inches, at Rittenhouse Needlepoint in Philadelphia, and $85 at Lycette Designs. A gusset or a 3D shape costs more: from $90 at Knot the Point, and from $90 for Rittenhouse's cube ornaments.
• Pillows. A knife-edge pillow of 100 to 144 square inches, up to a 12-inch square, is $110 at Rittenhouse, and one up to 144 square inches is from $110 at Stitches of Tulsa. Pillows start at $120 at Knot the Point and $150 at Lycette. Trim adds to the price: at Rittenhouse, the same pillow with custom twisted cording is $150.
• Stockings. A full-size knife-edge stocking, 16 inches long or more, is $100 or $110 at Rittenhouse, by length up to 24 inches. At Stitches of Tulsa it is from $85 or $110, by length up to 23 inches, before the materials the shop prices separately. Lycette's stocking finishing starts at $225. At Rittenhouse, custom cording and a gusset of 1 to 2 inches bring a large stocking to $235.

The final price depends on the piece. Lycette says the size of your canvas and the options you choose decide it, and Rittenhouse remeasures every piece it receives. When you pay differs too: The Needlepoint Clubhouse in Rock Hill, near St. Louis, charges for finishing only when the finished piece is back in the shop.

Finishing can cost as much as the canvas. In the shop catalogs we read for our guide to why needlepoint is so expensive, a hand-painted ornament canvas had a median price of $69. The list above starts finishing one at $50 to $85, and a gusseted or 3D ornament can cost more to finish than its canvas did. Budget for it at the start, not at the end.

Whatever you do, do not trim the canvas

Do not tidy the canvas up. That blank border of unstitched canvas around your design is not waste. The finisher needs it to pull the canvas square, to sew a seam, and to attach a backing. Rittenhouse asks for at least 1 inch of bare canvas on each side of the stitching, calls 2 inches or more ideal, and charges an extra blocking fee for less than 1 inch.

Leave it alone. You can always cut more off later, and you can never put it back on. Other finishers may want a different margin, so ask before you start stitching rather than after the last stitch.

Blocking comes first

A canvas can come out of square as it is stitched. Rittenhouse Needlepoint's price list names stitching without stretcher bars or a frame, very tight stitching, and some man-made threads among the things that make a piece hard to square again. Blocking pulls it back into square.

Rittenhouse blocks a piece once as part of its finishing if the piece is visibly skewed, and charges for any further blocking. Ask your finisher whether blocking is included. Our framing guide's section on how to block needlepoint gives the wet and steam methods for doing it at home, and the order the pins go in.

Through your shop, or direct to a finisher

Many needlepoint shops take finishing in. Some do it in house, as Rittenhouse and Stitches of Tulsa do, and others send it on to a finisher. For a first piece, we would suggest going through a shop: if it sends the work out, it handles the packing and shipping, and either way you have someone to call if anything comes back wrong.

Going direct to a finisher also works, but it can mean choosing your backing fabric and trim from photographs rather than holding them against the canvas on a counter.

FAQ

How long does needlepoint finishing take?

Plan on months rather than weeks. Lycette Designs estimates three months for slippers, four to five for belts and key fobs, six for ornaments and stockings, and eight to nine for pillows. Turnaround shifts with the type of finish and with how busy the finisher is, so ask for a current estimate instead of assuming.

Why does finishing cost so much?

It is custom sewing, one piece at a time, in materials chosen for your canvas. Stephanie Rzonca, a canvas designer, says it takes a lot of skill and a lot of time. A small ornament still needs cutting, backing, cording, and stuffing, so the work does not shrink as much as the piece does.

Can I finish a piece myself?

You can finish some things yourself. Flat pieces, bookmarks, luggage tags, and adhesive-backed blanks can be done at home. Pillows, stockings, and anything with a gusset or cording take more sewing, and a first attempt on a canvas you stitched for months is a lot to gamble. Some boxed stocking kits are the exception: they come with felt for the back and instructions for a simpler finish at home.

What should I send with the canvas?

Ask the finisher, and ask before you finish stitching. Rittenhouse Needlepoint, for one, wants the canvas unwashed, untrimmed, and off its stretcher bars, with needles and needle minders removed, and a finishing form filled in for each piece. Choosing the backing fabric and trim is easier with the canvas and the fabric side by side.

Do local shops do finishing in house?

Some do, such as Rittenhouse Needlepoint and Stitches of Tulsa, and others take it in and send it on to a finisher.

Finishing prices, lead times, and deadlines were read in September 2026 from Knot the Point Needleworks, Stitches of Tulsa, Rittenhouse Needlepoint (its 2026 price list), Lycette Designs, and Needlepoint.Com (its deadlines for 2026). The ornament canvas price comes from the shop catalogs behind our cost guide, read on September 28, 2026, and Stephanie Rzonca's words from her post for Spellbound Stitchery of April 16, 2026. Prices and deadlines change from year to year and from shop to shop, so treat them as a guide and confirm with whoever is doing your work.