~ A Punch Needle Tutorial {of sorts} ~

 ~ A Punch Needle Tutorial - of sorts ~

Well Hello!!

I am attempting to show you via photos 

how I work with my punch needle....

 I have been needle-punching for over 20 years ~ 

I am a fast & furious puncher and enjoy it immensely...

and I have been blessed to have taught lots {and lots!} of folks 

how to needle punch up and down the East Coast and into the middle states ;)

*Disclaimer*

I have a cat.

so there are cat hairs in my photos {gasp!}

on we go then....

This is a design that I have named 

'Love Shack'

and here it is in it's finished-finished state ~

for larger designs,

 I use my Hookinpunch© gripper frame from Notforgotten Farm™

and a MEDIUM tip Ultra Punch {Cameo} punch needle.

my threads of choice are DMC 6 strand cotton floss 

& Valdani pearl cotton size #8

when working with Valdani, 

I DOUBLE the thread and use it in my MEDIUM tip punch needle...

it punches up wonderfully & full.

and when working with DMC thread, I use ALL SIX STRANDS at once.

I usually keep my Ultra Punch Needle with MEDIUM top set on the #1 or lowest setting,

unless I'm working on a dimensional project, then my pattern instructions will dictate that for you.

back or working side of my project and the first cat hair!

 

As you can see in the photo below,

 the darker ground under the house has been punched totally horizontally,

but I wanted to change my direction for more movement in the design.

this is called Directional Punching.

so I penciled in some guide-lines...

 

then punched them...

 

then filled them in more...

 

...until the bottom of the heart shape was completely filled in {below}.

this lends an old look to my work, and keep the eye moving ~

 

I also have a trick that I use before I outline my border row:

as you can see in the photos below, I leave a space between the motif and the border-row...

 

so when I do punch the border-row the motifs don't interfere with the row 

and I don't accidentally 'blend' my threads... leaving both nice & crisp.

 

now the MOST IMPORTANT thing I do is this:

looking at the photos below, you can see that I keep the 'eye' of my needle 

against my previously punched row - and I punch SUPER CLOSE to my previous row!!

neat & tidy, huh?

I will outline all of my motifs this way, then continue to hold my needle in the same position while I finish the fill-in of the background.

But, before I fill in the background, I want to keep it from looking flat or static...

so I pencil in more guidelines to break up the expanses in the unfinished background:

 

now the next photo below show a very vague way of how I will punch each penciled in section...

no, I don't draw these little arrows in when I'm working, 

~ but for this little tutorial they are there for you to see :)

So now once the majority of the background has been filled in with the Valdani #8 pearl cotton,

for added interest, I am using 6 strand DMC cotton floss in a complimentary color value ~

I like doing this, as it also lends an old look and makes my work more interesting to me.

~

Here is the shaggy back of my work, or the 'working' side.

Notice I trim my threads away as I work, so they do not get accidentally pushed to the front...

and you can clearly see where I used the non-variegated DMC floss in little 'puddles' 

{upper left of heart}.

So now to finish-finish this project into a stuffed pillow or pinkeep:

Once I have trimmed away any snags or long loops from the front of my project, 

I will lay it face down on my backing fabric, which is face-up on my work surface.

Then I carefully machine stitch ALL THE WAY AROUND the entire finished project

coming as CLOSE to the last punched row as I can...

Yes you will catch your loops with the machine, and that is ok!!

**{photos below show a different project but clearly show the technique}

 

can you see the darker line under my last punched row of white thread? 

that is my machine-stitched line.

Now once I have machine stitched all the way around my project,

 using PINKING SHEARS I trim away the excess weavers cloth 

to within 1/4" from my machine stitching...

~ then I make a slit in the backing fabric and turn my project right sides out.

Save a piece of the backing fabric to use as a patch to cover the opening!!

I like to use cotton balls, sawdust or clean scraps of fabric for stuffing, 

~ but for this it's cotton balls.

 

I will unroll the cotton balls and use a chopstick

to stuff the project firmly...

now you can cover the slit with the scrap you saved:

 ...and there you have it!!

I am always available to answer your questions ~

Hope you enjoyed this!

~ Lori