Trying a Punch Needle Kit

The other day, I stopped into my local fabric store and while making my way back to the embroidery threads I saw this cute fox hanging from one of the aisle end caps.  Whelp, I guess I am trying a punch needle kit now.   Don’t you hate when you come across something and you know you’re powerless to pass it up?

So I grabbed one, got my threads and headed home.   After getting my sewing machine started on an embroidery project, I sat down with my punch needle kit and that’s when I saw this.

And that’s about when I lost control of my eyeballs.

The next day I happened to be going somewhere else that was near the fabric store and I stopped in and got the needle as well.

Now, I should have everything I need to make this little fox.

The kits come with instructions, a printed piece of fabric, a hoop and the thread/floss, the punch needle and a threading tool.

I started by hooping my fabric and it took several tries to get the fox aligned properly.   This was a waste of time.  I found that throughout the project I was going to have to readjust and tighten the hoop many times.  Just shove the fabric in so that the printed image is on the back and move on.

Threading the needle was easy.  Feed the thread through the handle with the threading tool and then thread the needle at the end.

The only really useful information that is given to you is that you should use the punch needle so that the thread coming out of the needle is always facing your last stitch.

I spread my project over a few nights.   The only thing that really slows you down is the constant need to thread your needle with another piece of thread.  Each thread is only going to last a minute or two and after a bit, you’re pretty sick of threading the needle over and over again.

About halfway through this project, I was already on Amazon buying a needle with a spool holder so the next project would be less tedious.  Buying the first punch needle was a bit of a waste.  But, you don’t know what you want until you give it a try.

After stabbing something for a thousand times and not winding up in jail, I ended up with this:

I have no idea what to do with something like this.  But being able to pop on a documentary and just mindlessly work on something was pretty relaxing.  The only thing I disliked was constantly threading the needle.

I realized you are basically learning to make a rug on a very miniature scale.  If I keep enjoying this, I’ll have to get a very large needle and give rug making a try.

The new punch needle has the spool holder. It also has different needle diameters and allows you to set the needle depth.  I’ll be interested to see how those features affect my next project.

What do you think I should make for the next punch needle project?