You start by putting your fabric in a hoop and making sure it’s really snug. Draw your pattern on the cloth but be advised that this will become the back of your project! (Any letters or numbers will need to be reversed) Thread the needle and start punching:
The back will kind of look like regular stitching, but the front will look tufted. The only thing holding the thread in at this point is the fabric tension, so the final project should have some glue or other fixative to make sure it can’t be pulled out.
From this point you just keep going until your design is completely filled in!
Here’s how I finished the back on this one- I glued felt onto the stitches, sewed a running stitch to gather the edges of the fabric together, then used blanket stitch to attach a larger piece of felt and sewed a little monster ribbon as a hanger.
He has so much personality! The little tooth peeking out is killing me, that smug face is perfect.
Quick question on the technique : do you find that 6-strand embroidery floss gives you a different texture compared to pearl cotton or punch needle yarn? I’ve been wanting to try needle-punching with floss specifically because the color palette is so much wider than the dedicated punch needle threads, but I worried the strands might separate inside the needle eye and feather over time. Does it pull cleanly all the way through?
Also did you back the piece with anything once you finished? I keep going back and forth on whether to leave the weaver cloth raw on smaller projects like this, or seal the back with a thin coat of fabric glue to lock the loops. Would love to know your method before I try one myself.
I have only ever used embroidery floss, so I don’t know how it compares to other thread types! I usually split it so I’m only using 3 strands at a time, although if you want thicker coverage you could stick to 6. I also don’t use super long strands when I’m making something to reduce the chance of any tangles.
I glued a piece of felt to the back of this one to make sure the strands wouldn’t get snagged and pulled out, and then sewed another piece of felt to the edges of the weaver cloth after I took it off the hoop to make it look more finished.
