Punchneedle PlanetJune logo
I’m so happy to see punchneedle embroidery starting to get more popular (finally!) and thought it was about time I dust off my needle and start some new embroideries of my own. Although it’s mostly the large rug-punch style that’s trending right now, it’s miniature punchneedle embroidery – worked with a smaller tool and standard embroidery floss – that I’ve been enjoying for almost a decade.
Punchneedle really is the easiest form of embroidery – you can draw any shapes on your fabric and fill them with punched loops of colour just like a paint-by-number painting!
And now here’s the PlanetJune logo, punchneedle style!
I love the depth that the looped stitches give to the finished piece, don’t you?
I thought you might like to see a little look at the process!
This is the back of the embroidery, and the side that faces you while you punch. You can see it looks like rows of straight stitches. Here, I’ve finished all the red but I’ve only done about half of the white areas:
From the front, you can see the nice even loops that are formed by the punchneedle tool as you punch. The loops are so dense that you can’t even see any spaces in the upper half where the white will define the red sections. But that will all change soon…
After punching the rest of the white stitches and the finishing steps to tidy up any loose threads and messy stitches, here’s the result:
And then the final step – it’s basically finished, but, at this stage of a punchneedle embroidery, you can choose what to do next depending on what you want to do with the embroidery.
You could keep it attached to the backing fabric as in the photo above and frame it like that, fill in the backing fabric with more colours and/or patterns to fill the hoop and use the hoop as a frame, square off the embroidery with more stitches and then frame it, turn it into an applique to attach to something else… Lots of choices!
I decided to mount my logo on a felt backing and cut it out so it became a free-standing ornament:
Isn’t it cool?
Next, I think I’ll return to my punchneedle butterflies project – I want to make a beautiful Monarch to commemorate my return to Canada!
If you’d like to learn more about punchneedle, see my Punchneedle info pages.
And if you’re ready to get started, my ebook, The Punchneedle Handbook: Miniature Punchneedle Embroidery Basics & Beyond, walks you step by step through the entire process of miniature punchneedle embroidery, from selecting tools and materials, to how to punch correctly, and the all-important finishing steps for perfecting your finished embroideries. It’s available in two versions, for right- and left-handers, so you can see step-by-step photos that show you exactly how you’ll be punching.
Have you tried punchneedle embroidery yet? If not, I’d love to help get you started with this easy and satisfying craft! If you have any questions, please feel free to ask them in the comments below 🙂
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Rouette McMasters said
Dear June, I want to comment on a couple of things. I admire your work very much. I’m 67 years old and trying new projects at my age is rewarding in itself. I sure wish you lived next door to me. I sent away to amazon for my punch needle. I wish I had researched it a little more as some of these I think are better made than the one I bought. I still haven’t made anything yet because I need to get the proper hoop and material. I don’t drive any more so jumping in the car and going over to Joann’s is out. I am going over this week and will get my things that I need over there. However I really,really want one of those spool holders and I was wondering do you sell those? I would like to purchase one as soon as possible. I can’t seem to find any for sale. If you don’t sell them would you be so kind as to tell me where I might be able to buy one. I also would like to know what type of material do I get?? One more thing I was wondering about yarn vs. cotton thread? Do most patterns tell you what to use and how many threads to use?? I hope I haven’t overstepped my limit as to how many questions to ask. I appreciate you taking the time to read this and if you can’t answer I understand. You do beautiful work.
Sincerely Yours,
Rouette McMasters
June said
Hi Rouette! You can find all my recommendations for tools and supplies on my punchneedle info site (click here) – the supplies page will answer all your questions above (except about my spooler).
The spool holder is something I cobbled together from an empty cotton reel, a pencil and a piece of wire – it’s not something I’ve developed into a product for sale. You’d need one that fit your brand of punchneedle anyway, and it’s only good if you’re going to be punching large areas with the same colour – for normal sized areas, I just cut a yard or so of floss and punch away, then re-thread when it’s all used up. But if you’d like to read about mine and maybe make one for yourself, my post on it is here (click to read it).
You may find my Punchneedle Handbook useful (it will also answer all your questions, teach you how to punch, and has a troubleshooting section for when things go wrong) 🙂
I hope you’ll enjoy punchneedle, once you’ve got all your supplies together!
Carolyn said
Happy to see punch needle embroidery making a comeback. I picked up a kit at a craft show 25-30 years ago, and lost count of how many sweatshirts I adorned. My favorite way to find patterns was in children’s coloring books.
nancy said
dear june,
you are simply amazing. i’m one handed at the moment so sry bout the lose of caps. i did some punch needle bout whew, 30 yrs ago or more. (not what you doing.) took me a while to get my head to wrap around it, but then suddenly it came to me. you are punching until a thread is more or less gone. in any case i enjoyed reading all bout it. you are seriously talented. thank you for sharing. nancy
Judy Carlson said
Looking forward to to more punchneedle!
.: petrOlly :. said
Oh, how lovely! 🙂 I only made two punchneedle projects so far (both your patterns) but I enjoy it very much 🙂 And your descriptions of the patterns + your e-book are simply superb. Another shade of the Moon pattern is waiting in line for me to start it 😉