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

Silver Dollar City

 

Well the time has finally arrived and we are set up at Silver Dollar City in Branson, MO.

It has been quite the experience and we have really enjoyed being a part of the 1800's!

 

 

Our booth is packed to the brim with lots of goodies!

 

 

Rug hooking, oxford punch, and needle punch supplies as well as lots of finished goods.

 

Pati  and Sandra were out for a couple of days and returned home but they will be back this weekend ready to help for the next 3 1/2 weeks.

 

 

Our booth gets changed around a bit everyday :)

Ann and I have been showing lots of kids how to hook and punch and surprisingly they caught on very quickly.

It has been very warm during several of the days but with lots of ice cold water we kept right at it!

 

 

If you get a chance and are in the area we would love to have you stop by for a visit!

 

Happy Trails....Ginger

Strawberry Needlecases and Celebrations!

I've been punching again and these strawberries are making some SWEET needlecases!

If you would like to see how I put them together stop by our Prairie Moon Primitives Blog and see how they are simple and quick to make.

 

Lots of celebrations going on this past weekend!

 

 

Eva Mae turned 1 and has decide walking is much better than being held.  She is one busy lil' gal.

Danny's dad turned 80 this weekend and we had a wonderful family gathering with a cookout and lots of visiting!

 

The weather here has been a bit crazy.  I'm not complaining by any means.  Today we enjoyed 80 degrees and tomorrow will be much the same.  By Thursday they are forcasting snow in the northwest part of Oklahoma and dropping temps here in the heart of Oklahoma.  Like they say if you don't like the weather just wait it will change :)

 

Happy Trails....Ginger

Needle Punch Christmas Ornaments

Lots of things going on around here. Pati and I have been working on lots of new patterns and making samples. Here are some of the new Christmas ones I have made kits for.

We are using hand dyed wool thread and they are turning out so nice. They look like tiny hand hooked pieces but they have been needle punched.



Kits with cameo medium needles with instruction booklets, weavers cloth, a lip lock embroidery hoop, reusuable pattern with color photo and wool thread to complete 3 ornaments are included in this pack. We have them listed over at our Etsy shop with FREE SHIPPING.



If you are already a "puncher" we also have kits available with weavers cloth, pattern, and wool thread.

This is just a sample of some of the kits and patterns we will be making for our adventure next year!

Thanks for stopping by and hope you are enjoying your week....they say cooler days are on the way this week for Oklahoma it's a time to celebrate :)

Happy Trails....Ginger