Beginner Needle Punch

While at Silver Dollar City I did a LOT of needle punching.  There are a lot of new needle punchers from the ages of about 5 years old on up that did very well learning how.  Yes 5 years old!  Lots of children stopped by and wanted to try needle punching, rug hooking, and oxford rug punch. 

If you have ever wanted to try needle punch it really is very easy to learn.  Thread your punch needle, grab some weavers cloth and put it in a hoop or on a frame and draw on a pattern and your on your way. 

A few little helpful hints....make sure your thread, floss, or yarn glides smoothly through your punch needle.  Never force it through if it won't go it may have a knot, fuzz inside the needle, or may just be too thick for your punch needle.

Begin by doing small areas that are detailed then fill in around them to hold them in place.  Letters should be drawn on backwards.  I like to take a sharpie and draw them on the right side then turn my weavers cloth over and retrace them on backwards.  That way they get on to the pattern right where I want them and don't struggle trying to draw them backwards.

Leave just a tiny tail of floss out when you begin to punch.  Most of the time I set my ultra punch on the #3 setting unless I wanted to add some dimension such as flowers, sheep, etc.  When you start punching you need to punch your needle all the way down into the fabric and then as you come up with the needle come out of the fabric and barely scratch the surface moving your needle just a fraction and going right back down into the fabric all the way down as far as the needle will go...this makes your loops all the same height on the front side.  Get into the habit of going all the way down each time. You will also want to keep your rows side by side with very little space between.

You want those loops nice and compact on the front side!  When you do little things such as eyes don't worry about that at first they don't look right once you add the background around them they will shape right up.

Needle punch is a fun and easy craft that will have you making lots of fun things in just a few hours. 

Happy Trails....Ginger