Pins ‘N Needles is back at the Saucon Valley Farmers’ Market for a second year of vending craft items such as face masks, cotton coasters and hair scrunchies.
You won’t find organic produce, homemade baked goods or butcher meats at this market stand, but you will find eye-catching, high-quality reusable items like face masks and cotton coasters when you visit Pins ‘N Needles at the Saucon Valley Farmers’ Market.
Pins ‘N Needles was started by Licia Grim in 2015, when her trademark was selling knit wool hats outfitted with a brooch. She has since expanded her product line to include various items.
Making and selling clothing came naturally to Grim, whose family has a history in the garment business. Grim spent 25 years working as a bookkeeper for her father and grandfather’s blouse factory, but her duties often expanded beyond merely bookkeeping.
“When you have a factory business, if somebody’s out and it’s going to hold up production, they put you in that seat and you stay there, so that’s what I would do,” she laughed. “That’s how I learned to sew and do just about every operation in the shop. I had to.”
Grim also owned a maternity retail store in Bethlehem with her mother and sister called The Stylish Stork.
“We were there for 10 years, and then I got married and became a stay-at-home mom,” she said.
When the COVID pandemic struck in 2020, Grim had no intention of sewing and distributing face masks until a friend of hers expressed a dire need for them.
“In my knitting group, one of my friend’s husband is the head of the neonatal department at St. Luke’s hospital, and they were desperate for masks and she was telling this story,” Grim said. “At that point nobody was really (selling them), Joann Fabrics wasn’t open, you could get some stuff online, but it was scarce.”
Grim, joined by her family, began churning out face masks to donate to St. Luke’s, and they were eventually able to provide the hospital with 500 masks.
“We made them morning, noon and night,” she said. “My husband was bagging them, my son, Sean, was tagging them. It was really fun; it gave us something to do during the pandemic.”
Licia Grim, who owns Pins ‘N Needles, originally started making face masks after finding out from a friend that St. Luke’s was in desperate need of them. With the help of her family, Grim was able to donate 500 masks to the health network.
By the time the Saucon Valley Farmers’ Market season rolled around in the spring of 2020, Grim wanted to provide masks for attendees by selling them at the market. Due to limited space, market organizers came up with the idea to combine the Pins ‘N Needles booth with the hand sanitizing station at the market.
“We had such a good time with it,” said Grim. “The people are so nice at the market.”
Pins ‘N Needles is back at the market this season for another year of selling face masks along with a variety of new items, including hair ties, hair scrunchies and cotton coasters.
Grim said branching out into selling other products was born out of necessity.
“When the CDC decided that we didn’t need masks anymore, which is great for the country, it kind of caught me by surprise, and I had a lot of fabric, so I started making hair ties and scrunchies,” Grim said.
All Pins ‘N Needles products are made out of a variety of quality fabrics featuring different patterns representing sports teams, summer colors, fruits and more. Face masks are available for $15, and six packs of cotton coasters are available for $20.
In addition to vending at the SFVM each Sunday, Pins ‘N Needles also has a selection of their products for sale on Etsy. Grim said interested customers may also email her at pi*************@gm***.com or give her a call at (484) 858-0292 to place an order or inquire about her products.
Grab a six pack of Pins ‘N Needles’ newest product–colorful cotton coasters–for $20 at the Saucon Valley Farmers’ Market.
Read some of our other Saucon Valley Farmers’ Market vendor profiles before you pay them a visit.
- Blackbird Farms
- Aunt Jack’s Real Home Baking
- Ridge Valley Farm
- Epic Acre Farm
- Moon Gate Farms
- Mainly Mushrooms
- High Point Kombucha
The Saucon Valley Farmers’ Market is open each Sunday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 409 Constitution Ave., Hellertown, next to the Hellertown Area Library. The market operates from early May through late November and hosts more than 25 different local vendors.
One of the popular items Pins ‘N Needles sells at the Saucon Valley Farmers’ Market is hair scrunchies.
