An Introduction to Miniature Punch Needle Embroidery

Miniature punch needle embroidery is said to have originated in ancient Egypt, when the needles used were the hollow bones of birds’ wings. Through time, the technique expanded into Europe. The most noted use of punch needle embroidery started in the seventeenth century with a Russian religious sect known as the Old Believers or Staroveri.

Punch needle embroidery is still popular today in many countries. It doesn’t require the creation of fancy stitches that traditional embroidery does, and it can be done easily. The use of a small punch needle and fine thread is what makes this craft ideal for detailed work.

To start, you need a miniature punch needle, a piece of weavers cloth with a pattern you want to punch drawn on it, embroidery floss, and an embroidery hoop with a lip around the inside that will hold the cloth taut.

An unusual aspect of punch needle embroidery (both miniature and regular) is that you work with the back side of the fabric facing you. The embroidery design appears on the reverse side of the fabric you’re punching. When adding your design to the fabric, be sure to reverse the drawing.

Preparing to punch needle:

1. Hoop your fabric. A punch needle hoop is constructed slightly differently from an embroidery hoop—it has a lip on the inner ring and may have legs to prevent damage to the needle. To use the hoop, put the inner ring down flat on a table; center the design and place your fabric with the pattern showing faceup on the smaller (inner) ring with the lip; open the outer ring and push it gently over the inner ring and fabric; push down until you hear the lip snap under the outer ring. Finally, tighten the screw most of the way and pull the fabric gently to tighten it in the hoop. Pull the fabric at the left and right sides first and then at the top and bottom, being careful not to distort the shape of the pattern. As you stretch the fabric, tighten the screw. When you tap the fabric, it should sound like a drum—because it should be as tight as a drum.
2. Prepare your needle. Set the needle length according to the gauge listed in the pattern. The loop length is determined by the distance the punch needle passes through the fabric. To make shorter loops, some needles have a piece of tube slipped over them. Other needles have a mechanical device to make them longer or shorter. In a pattern, the needle length is referred to as the gauge. The smaller the gauge, the smaller the loop. Gauge is measured from the eye of the needle to the end of the tube—or on mechanical needles, the end of needle where it enters the handle. The size of the loop will be half the measurement of the gauge. If a pattern uses a variety of long and short loops, you may need to change the gauge several times.
3. Prepare your thread. Embroidery floss consists of six strands twisted together. Cut the floss to the length you require (generally about 3 to 5 feet) and then separate it into individual strands. To separate, pinch one cut end at the tip and tap it on the top until the strands fan out. With your other hand, grab ahold of one strand and pull it gently up and away until it separates from the floss. Pull out as many single strands as you need for the stitch; the instructions will specify how many. Do not attempt to pull out more than one strand at a time because it will tangle and knot. If the stitch calls for more than one strand, place the individual strands back together neatly.

Thread the punch needle

A traditional punch needle usually comes with a plain wire threader.

1. Pull the floss through the punch needle handle by placing the straight end of the threader (the end without the small loop) into the handle of the needle. Don’t try to find the hollow of the needle; just let the threader sit in the handle. Give the handle a few taps with your fingernail, and the threader will find the hollow of the needle on its own and fall right in. The end of the threader will exit through the tip of the needle, leaving the loop end still sticking out the handle. Thread the floss through the loop at the handle end of the punch needle, and pull the floss up into the smaller loop. Then pull on the straight end of the threader that is coming out the needle’s tip, and bring the thread through the needle until the threader is all the way out. Do not remove the floss from the threader.
2. Thread the eye of the needle. (The needle will not punch the stitch unless the eye of the needle is threaded and in the correct direction.) Locate the small scoop (the front) and the hole at the tip of the needle. With the floss still in the threader, pass the small loop of the threader into the scoop, through the hole, and out the back. It’s easier to use the straight end of the wire threader. Once the floss is through, grasp it and pull it out of the threader. Leave a few inches of floss hanging down from the tip of the needle. If there is a snag at any point in the needle-threading process, stop and check for knots in the floss and ensure that you aren’t trying to thread too many strands through too small a needle.

Punch needle is worked from the backside of the fabric and from the outline of the design to the center.

Start stitching

1. Hold the punch needle in your dominant hand, between your thumb and forefinger, with the needle part facing down. Do not hold it as a pencil or pen—hold it straight up and down. Drape the thread coming out of the handle over the back of the hand holding the needle. Make sure the thread can move freely and will not get caught on anything. Pull the thread at the handle end so that no more than 1 or 2 inches of thread is coming from the tip of the needle.
2. Hold the hoop with your other hand.
3. Place the needle vertically on the pattern line where you will make your first stitch. Make sure the scoop of the needle is facing in the same direction as you are planning to punch. If your punch needle isn’t marked, you can put a drop of paint or nail polish on the handle to indicate the front.
4. To form the first stitch, push the needle down into the fabric as far as it will go. It will stop on the end of the tube or the end of the needle, depending on the type of needle you’re using. (You should hear a popping sound. If you don’t, the cloth isn’t tight enough in the hoop.) Gently pull the needle back up through the fabric, but stop as soon as you are through. Do not lift the needle off the fabric!
5. To form subsequent stitches, drag the tip of the needle to the next stitch—which is immediately in front of the stitch you just made—and punch down through the fabric again. Without lifting the needle tip off the cloth, drag the needle again and repeat. If you look at the underside of the hoop, you’ll see a small loop—which is your first stitch—as well as the tip of your needle and thread ready to form your next stitch.
6. Fill in the pattern. After you finish punching the outline, you’ll fill in the middle area. Move the needle over, next to the last stitch punched—about the distance of the width of the needle. (The needle is very thin, so this distance may be closer than you think.) Punch the next row, maintaining a uniform distance from the first row. Repeat to fill in the remaining rows.

As you get comfortable punching, you may opt to make swirls, circles, and waves to fill in the design and to create interesting effects with the thread. The larger the loops you make, the more the area will fill in.

Don’t punch your rows too close together, or your finished piece will pull in to the middle of the fabric. When you finish an area, rethread the needle with another color of thread and continue punching.

Follow the pattern instructions for the stitching order.

Tips for punching success:

1. Turn the hoop as you follow the outline and as you stitch the rows. Always punch with the front of the needle facing the direction you’re stitching. Otherwise, your stitches will pull out.
2. After a few stitches, use a pair of very sharp, pointy embroidery scissors to snip off the tail left by the first stitch. Do not pull on this tail, or you will pull stitches out.
3. As you approach the end of the thread in the needle, you’ll need to finish off that thread and start a new one. With the needle still in the fabric from the previous punch, place your finger on the fabric where the needle entered and gently push down on the stitch that was last formed, preventing the stitch from pulling out. Pull the needle slowly out of the fabric without letting go of the stitch. Allow an inch or two of thread to extend from the tip of the needle; lay the needle down, and snip off the thread right at the fabric. Rethread the needle and start punching again next to the previous stitch. As you finish off threads, your work should have no visible tails coming out of the fabric.
4. If you make a mistake, you can pull out stitches. Weavers cloth is very forgiving, and the holes will close up. However, use a new strand of thread to re-punch; do not reuse thread.
5. Once you’ve finished the pattern, hold the hooped fabric up to the light. With the working side facing you, look through the fabric to the finished side of your work. If you see holes, add a few stitches in those areas to fill in. Flip the work over and examine the finished side. If any loops are sticking up beyond the others, use embroidery scissors to clip them even with the rest of the loops.

Punch needle embroidery is a creative and meditative technique with beautiful results. Enjoy the process!

Robert Ambrose has been a handcraft artist for decades, working in various crafts. He works in miniature punch needle embroidery and designing punch needle patterns, doll making, photography, woodworking, woodturning, and most recently weaving. His work has been displayed at galleries, and he has won awards for his craft. Visit his website at qbranchltd.etsy.com.