Make a sweet piece of rainbow art to remind yourself of God's promises with this punch needle tutorial
We're loving the rise of punch needle embroidery - it's really taken off this year, and is a really fun form of needlework. It gives a more loop-like finish than traditional embroidery, resulting in a somewhat softer appearance.
Punch needle tools look a little bit like a piece of medical equipment, which can be slightly off-putting, but they're really straightforward to use once you get started.
There are a few videos on YouTube that walk you through how to set up your tool depending on which on you bought. We've got this punch needle kit from Amazon, which came with a bag of embroidery threads in different colours as well. (We don't like shopping from Amazon normally, but we struggled to find a punch needle kit on the high street!)
Your punch needle will come with a threading tool, which you insert down the needle. You use it to pull the thread (or yarn!) up through the centre of the tool and the needle, and then you use a separate little piece of wire to pull the yarn through the eye of the needle. It's quite a different experience compared with threading a normal embroidery needle, but it's easy once you've done it once!
You control the length of the loop by adjusting the length of the needle - the longer your needle is, the longer your loop will be (resulting in a more pile-like finish, a la those plushy carpets that are great for wiggling your toes in!).
Download your PDF pattern here.
You will need:
- A punch needle
- Threads in your choice of colours
- Downloadable template (above)
- Embroidery hoop
- Cotton fabric
Getting started with your punch needle embroidery
Unlike traditional embroidery, you work from the back of your project piece with punch needle embroidery.
Trace your pattern on the reverse of your fabric, and mount it in an embroidery hoop. Then it's time to get started! You need to put the needle all the way through the fabric and back out again to create your stitches, but be careful you don't lift the needle up too high on your way out, or you'll shorten the loops on the front side of the design. Practice brings progress, though, so give yourself half an hour of playing around with it so you can get a feel for the technique.
Our picture is actually of the back of the piece - the flatter stitches rather than the loops. But you can mount it on whichever side you like best. Tag us in your pictures on social media so we can see how your project turns out!
Free printable postcards inspired by summer
Emma has created this lovely set of four brightly coloured postcards perfect for printing out and popping on the fridge, or for sending to a friend with an encouraging note. Yay!
Please note that these postcards are strictly for personal use only, and the designs are the copyright of Cheerfully Given 2018.
Let us know if you have any questions!
Warmly,
Menekse and Emma x