The Needlepoint Shoppe
“As an adult, I try to take conscious steps to make people feel included. This is a fun way to do that because we’re also physically making something.” Those words capture the vision behind The Needlepoint Shoppe, the welcoming studio Brittany Johnson and Brooke Adair opened on Midvale’s historic Main Street. Filled with colorful canvases, beautiful threads, and inviting places to gather, the shop brings together two things that have long mattered to Brittany - creativity and community. It is also the culmination of two women’s remarkably different journeys, a friendship of more than fifteen years, and a shared desire to create something of their own.
For Brittany, resilience began long before she ever picked up a needle and thread. Brittany grew up in Salt Lake City as part of a blended family of all girls. As one of the oldest, she naturally found herself taking the lead, but childhood also introduced challenges that required strength beyond her years. While her father’s struggles created uncertainty at home, one constant remained. Her mother - a history teacher with a love of sewing, creativity, and learning - provided the steady example Brittany would carry with her into adulthood. “My mom had her struggles too, effectively as a ‘single’ parent, but she was always healthy,” Brittany recalled. “I consistently had this very strong person ahead of me.”
It was also her mother who first introduced Brittany to making things with her hands. Sewing by machine and by hand, cross-stitch, calligraphy, paint-by-number kits, and countless other creative pursuits filled her childhood. At the same time, she excelled in school, played volleyball, ran track, took part in student government, and studied French. Her mother’s love of history inspired Brittany’s fascination with other cultures, eventually growing into a passion for travel that she now shares with her own four children.
Those interests naturally led Brittany toward architecture, a profession that balanced creativity with analytical thinking. After earning both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in architecture from the University of Utah, Brittany became a licensed architect in 2013 and set up her own practice the following year. In 2023, she merged her firm with another small practice to create Uncommon Architects, found just around the corner from Needlepoint Shoppe.
Today, the architectural firm specializes in restaurants, retail spaces, offices, multifamily housing, and other commercial projects, many for entrepreneurs opening businesses of their own. Helping people transform an idea into a physical space has become one of Brittany’s favorite parts of architecture, particularly when those projects strengthen local neighborhoods. “We wanted to attract talent from all types of backgrounds and make it a place where people could thrive."
By every measure, Brittany had built the kind of life she had once imagined - a successful architectural practice, a happy marriage, and four children - two daughters and identical twin boys. The inspiration for her next dream came from an unexpected place. Brittany describes herself as someone who has always been a worrier. She discovered that needlepoint offered something unexpectedly calming. It required enough concentration to quiet a busy mind while still allowing room for creativity. “Needlepoint is very good for your nervous system,” she explained. “It forces me to sit down, but I can still be creative. Depending on the day, I can be free with it, or I can be very methodical. It becomes this meditative craft.” As she reflected on her childhood, Brittany spoke thoughtfully about the perspective it gave her. “I never wanted to use my father’s struggles as an excuse not to do well,” she said. “Instead, it became a challenge. How do I rise above this?” Rather than allowing those experiences to define her, they deepened her empathy and shaped the way she now moves through the world.
Brooke’s journey began quite differently. Growing up in West Jordan, Brooke remembers a happy childhood centered around music and books. Singing became a full-time pursuit. She took voice lessons several nights each week, competed regularly, studied piano, and eventually auditioned for both Star Search and American Idol, advancing through the early rounds before hearing an unexpected critique. “They said, ‘You have everything except a story,’” Brooke remembered with a laugh. “The story came later.”
At the time, she had just graduated from high school and married her longtime boyfriend. She and her husband eventually welcomed two children while Brooke balanced family life with an interior design business and later a home theater design company they ran together. When the housing market slowed, a friend introduced her to title insurance as a way to supplement the family’s income while continuing to raise young children.
Everything then changed after eleven years of marriage. Faced with raising two children on her own following an unexpected divorce, Brooke poured herself into building a career. “I think, in a lot of ways, he held me back,” she reflected. “When he left, I felt free, but I also had no choice.”
Brooke attacked every opportunity with determination. As her career accelerated, she also returned to a goal she had postponed for years - finishing college. With each new position, she negotiated tuition reimbursement into her employment contract, steadily working toward a degree while continuing to grow professionally. In 2018, at age thirty-seven, she graduated summa cum laude from Weber State University with a degree in sales.
Today, Brooke owns Bhava Title, the boutique title company she founded in 2022. Despite maintaining a small team, she has become Utah’s highest-producing escrow officer based on individual revenue. She also found happiness again, remarrying and blending a family that now includes four children. Like Brittany, Brooke understands the pressures of balancing family and business ownership. “My job is so stressful. When I get home, and can sit and needlepoint, it helps so much. It also keeps me off my phone.”
The friendship that eventually became Needlepoint Shoppe began more than fifteen years ago through mutual friends. Brittany and Brooke’s husbands had attended high school together, and before long, the women found themselves raising children at the same stages of life. Annual girls’ trips, family camping adventures, and countless conversations strengthened a friendship built on remarkably similar personalities. Both were entrepreneurs, endlessly creative, and balancing demanding careers while raising four children.
For years, Brittany and Brooke casually talked about opening something together someday, perhaps a small café or a bookstore. They did not want it to be elaborate - just a slower, more peaceful place where they could spend time doing things they loved while creating something meaningful. The idea remained little more than a dream until needlepoint unexpectedly entered the picture.
Like so many modern hobbies, it first appeared on social media. “You need to do this,” Brooke told Brittany. “I think we’d like it.” She was right. The two friends quickly became captivated by the rhythm of stitching. Then, during an annual girls’ trip to Austin, they wandered into a needlepoint shop, and something clicked.
What captured their attention was not the canvases or the threads, it was the atmosphere where friends lingered, and experienced stitchers encouraged beginners while conversation flowed naturally. The women realized they were not looking at a retail store; they were looking at a community that just happened to revolve around needlepoint. When they returned to Utah, Brittany and Brooke began teaching friends to stitch. Informal get-togethers soon followed, and they realized they wanted to create a place where that same spirit could flourish.
As they visited local needlepoint stores, Brittany and Brooke also recognized an opportunity. Utah already had wonderful, established shops, but many operated primarily during weekday business hours. Working adults, young families, and newer generations discovering needlepoint online often struggled to find a place that fit their schedules. The two were not looking to replace anything, they simply hoped to create something different - a shop where beginners would feel just as comfortable as experienced stitchers.
Midvale’s historic Main Street felt like the perfect home. Brittany already knew the neighborhood well through her architectural practice and had long dreamed of opening something there. Rich with historic buildings and independent businesses, Main Street has experienced a remarkable renaissance in recent years, attracting artists, entrepreneurs, musicians, and locally owned shops. “It’s like something out of a movie,” Brittany said. “It’s really coming to life.” The location reflected exactly what they envisioned. Visitors could stroll the street, stop for coffee, pizza, or ice cream, listen to live music, then settle in for an afternoon of stitching. Needlepoint Shoppe opened on April 25, 2026.
Inspired by the warmth of a French café, the space reflects Brittany’s architectural eye while inviting visitors to stay awhile. A large communal table anchors the room, surrounded by colorful canvases, fibers, and thoughtfully chosen accessories. The shop carries hundreds of canvases - many hand-painted by artists across the country - featuring everything from travel, food, and holidays to animals and contemporary pop culture. Cottons, silks, wool blends, ribbons, velvets, and specialty fibers offer endless creative possibilities, while decorative needle minders, project bags, stitching tools, gifts, candy, and sodas complete the experience.
Classes introduce beginners to the craft while encouraging experienced stitchers to expand their skills. Brittany and Brooke also invite local artists to teach watercolor, calligraphy, and other creative workshops. Brooke especially loves the way needlepoint naturally brings generations together. “I love that women in their eighties and girls who are ten can all be working on the same thing. Everyone learns from each other.”
Every Tuesday evening, the shop hosts a free Drop-In Stitch Night. There is no formal instruction. People simply bring their projects, pull up a chair, and stitch. For Brittany and Brooke, watching friendships develop around the table has become one of the greatest rewards. “I enjoy people,” Brittany said simply.
For Brooke, those evenings have become meaningful for another reason. “I have a really hard time being around crowds,” she admitted. “It takes a lot out of me.” Needlepoint changed that. Having something to work on makes meeting new people feel easier, allowing conversations to develop naturally.
As Brooke reflected on everything the two friends have created, she quietly summed up the heart of Needlepoint Shoppe. “For some people, it’s hard as an adult to make friends or even know where to go to meet people. Here, they can come in, build friendships, and feel safe. Needlepoint is just the vessel.”
