Punch Needle, My New Best Friend

My Design, Bee and Skep

When it comes to crafting, I have a very addictive personality.  I want to try it all, do it to the point the endorphins equilibrate and are no longer effective, then move on.  I have to keep moving, mostly in an ever-widening circle of crafts, to get the buzz (pun intended). That way I never really get good at anything, but then I never get bored either.  And who cares at my age.  It’s all for fun.  Or is it?

So count me in on punch needle.  I did it years before with a cheap needle and the wrong fabric.  I didn’t bother learning the mechanics or which tools and fabrics made it easier.  I just punched away with mediocre results and didn’t know not to be happy with it.  Then I got bored.

But lately I have found that punch needle is like painting.  It’s reminds me of Seurat’s hallmark pointillist technique, something I learned from watching the movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.  You can take one thread, and make a loop of color, or you can take lengths of the same colored thread and fill an entire area.  You can mix threads for more subtle colors, or you can use variegated threads and let the thread do the painting for you.  It’s way more complex than I imagined, and when you start to master this art form your mind will undoubtedly wander to mixing this with other needlework techniques like french knots and needlepoint.  Any embroidery can be infused depending upon the foundation fabric, and I am starting to mix up these fabrics as well.

Easy and Fast

And where to put all these little loops? On anything!!!!  My first is this bee, my own design thank you, and something I have made into a pattern and hope to market on one of those pattern mart places.  I’m working on two others, one of which is on an article of clothing and the other on a boat bag.

What do I like best about this?  Glad you asked.  I like that I can’t drop a stitch, pull out a row, worry about it fitting when I’m finished, and there’s no counting.  My hands and wrists don’t get as tired.  AND it’s FAST!!!!  That’s the biggest draw for me.  These are like mini rugs, tough and lasting, and there is virtually no limit to the type of thread you can use. Silks, wools, cottons, linens, rayons and all other synthetics will work, and each brings with it a finish and look that is beautiful and unique.

I love this craft, and hope that perhaps on this, MY BIRTHDAY, I may have found something that I might get really good at!  If anyone is interested in this pattern which will arrive with all instructions and a hand-drawn image on the finest weaver’s cloth, please contact me via the email link on this blog.

These images are copyrighted, yet I imagine only really honest people read my blog anyhow!  Thank you for that.