The Needlework and Fiber Guild of Media continues to meet monthly and have demonstrations by various members and occasionally a speaker or road trip. This month, I volunteered to show what I learned about punch needle from a class in November 2024 with Katie Kriner, Author, Fibert Artist, Shop Owner of The Bee & The Bear in Hereford, PA. I hadn’t worked on the project since then.
Meghan brought a punch needle pillow to the meeting done with chunky yarn and a big needle. She described hers, and it was probably very similar to the Oxford Punch.
I’m using the Ultra Punch needle, which seems to be the gold standard in punch needle for projects using embroidery threads. It has 12 heights to vary the length of the loops as you punch.
This design is done at level 2, which creates a higher loop than the background, which was done at level 1 and creates depth in the design. You can’t see in the photos, but you can in person and feel it.
Since I only have evenweave fabrics (weavers cloth was supplied with the kit), I cut a piece from an old sheet for me to practice on. After watching a YouTube video, I realized that I had not loaded the punch needle properly (that sample was not photographed). After that, I got the hang of it quick enough (photographed below). Following a line is tougher than you think! Once the areas get filled in, it looks smoother.
Needlepoint stitchers might find it odd that you cut ends of threads from the front. It just blends into the loops.
If you pull the thread, it can all come undone. Kristen suggested applying fusible fabric to the back would help prevent that. But I don’t think I’ll be touching it to have that happen.
The design is drawn on the back of the fabric (not photographed), and that’s where you punch as the design appears on the front (as seen in the photos). The overdyed green and light gray threads are Valdani balls of 3 stranded floss (worked as supplied, not stranded). Placing the thread balls in a small jar allows the thread to continuously feed through the needle and not roll away. You don’t cut the thread into multiple lengths as we do in needlepoint.
The overdyed dark gray for the background is Valdani #8 perle cotton.
I never expected to get this done before our meeting, and I didn’t get much of anything else done, but I finished the punching in 2 days.
The kit included the display hoop and a piece of felt to cover the back. I did a running stitch along the inside edge to gather the fabric, cut away the excess fabric, filled the width of the hoop with the excess fabric and batting, covered with magazine board, gathered the fabric, laced it flat, and glued a piece a felt on the back that came with the kit. I placed Aleene’s Fabric glue on the weavers cloth and simply pressed the felt down. It was dry in no time.
Thanks to the deadline of the demo, this completes Goal #8 for 2025!
I was asked if I plan to punch again. And, I would if I happened to see a cute design, but I don’t feel the desire to seek it out. The repetition of punching reminds me of basketweave. But, I prefer basketweave because of the lack of precision with punch needle. The loop height in punch needle has some variation, and getting stitches close enough is an issue, although both would probably improve with practice. There is also the concern that it could unravel.
Kristen said the tool has been used for Turkey work. Again, I would be concerned about unraveling.
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Filed under: General comments, Needlework and Textile Guild of Media, Punch Needle, Punch Needle Demo
The Needlework and Fiber Guild of Media continues to meet monthly and have demonstrations by various members and occasionally a speaker or road trip. This month, I volunteered to show what I learned about punch needle from a class in November 2024 with Katie Kriner, Author, Fibert Artist, Shop Owner of The Bee & The Bear in Hereford, PA. I hadn’t worked on the project since then.
Meghan brought a punch needle pillow to the meeting done with chunky yarn and a big needle. She described hers, and it was probably very similar to the Oxford Punch.
I’m using the Ultra Punch needle, which seems to be the gold standard in punch needle for projects using embroidery threads. It has 12 heights to vary the length of the loops as you punch.
This design is done at level 2, which creates a higher loop than the background, which was done at level 1 and creates depth in the design. You can’t see in the photos, but you can in person and feel it.
Since I only have evenweave fabrics (weavers cloth was supplied with the kit), I cut a piece from an old sheet for me to practice on. After watching a YouTube video, I realized that I had not loaded the punch needle properly (that sample was not photographed). After that, I got the hang of it quick enough (photographed below). Following a line is tougher than you think! Once the areas get filled in, it looks smoother.
Needlepoint stitchers might find it odd that you cut ends of threads from the front. It just blends into the loops.
If you pull the thread, it can all come undone. Kristen suggested applying fusible fabric to the back would help prevent that. But I don’t think I’ll be touching it to have that happen.
The design is drawn on the back of the fabric (not photographed), and that’s where you punch as the design appears on the front (as seen in the photos). The overdyed green and light gray threads are Valdani balls of 3 stranded floss (worked as supplied, not stranded). Placing the thread balls in a small jar allows the thread to continuously feed through the needle and not roll away. You don’t cut the thread into multiple lengths as we do in needlepoint.
The overdyed dark gray for the background is Valdani #8 perle cotton.
I never expected to get this done before our meeting, and I didn’t get much of anything else done, but I finished the punching in 2 days.
The kit included the display hoop and a piece of felt to cover the back. I did a running stitch along the inside edge to gather the fabric, cut away the excess fabric, filled the width of the hoop with the excess fabric and batting, covered with magazine board, gathered the fabric, laced it flat, and glued a piece a felt on the back that came with the kit. I placed Aleene’s Fabric glue on the weavers cloth and simply pressed the felt down. It was dry in no time.
Thanks to the deadline of the demo, this completes Goal #8 for 2025!
I was asked if I plan to punch again. And, I would if I happened to see a cute design, but I don’t feel the desire to seek it out. The repetition of punching reminds me of basketweave. But, I prefer basketweave because of the lack of precision with punch needle. The loop height in punch needle has some variation, and getting stitches close enough is an issue, although both would probably improve with practice. There is also the concern that it could unravel.
Kristen said the tool has been used for Turkey work. Again, I would be concerned about unraveling.
All said, I will keep my punch needle!
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