How To Tuft a Punch Needle Rug For Beginners (With Photos)

December 17, 2024

Welcome to Rug Making 101. I have been practicing this medium for several years now. I have learned a lot over the years. Here I will share with you some basics on how to get started on your own project! While there are many ways to make a rug, we will be using the punch needle method.

Materials needed: embroidery hoop, yarn, monk’s cloth or burlap, punch needle and threader, felt (for backing), scissors, white school glue, paint brush

Optional additional materials: crochet hook, hot glue and hot glue gun

Step 1: Prepare the canvas

Place the inner hoop onto a tabletop. Place the square of monk’s cloth over the inner hoop, design facing up. Gently push the outer hoop onto the cloth and inner hoop. Pull the edges of the fabric to make it taut. You will need to readjust the cloth as you work to ensure that it remains tight.

*Tension is one of the most important factors in punch needle rug making. The monk’s cloth must be as tight as possible and the yarn must be loose and smoothly fed through the punch needle.

Step 2: Thread the punch needle

There are two holes on the tip of the needle. The yarn will need to be threaded through the smaller circular hole on the side and through the needle (2a). When there is a loop of wire sticking out on the other side, push the yarn through the threader (2b). Then pull the threader back through the needle to bring the yarn through to the other side (2c). Make sure to keep a few inches of yarn past the needle to prevent the yarn from falling out (2d).

*You will need to rethread the needle every time you switch colors.

Step 3: Begin punching

Put your needle on the B setting. A is the longest loop while D is the shortest. You can begin punching wherever you’d like (3a). Punch the needle through a hole in between the weavings, up until the fabric hits the plastic handle (3b). The needle will create a loop on the opposite side of the fabric (3c). Note we’re working on the back of the piece. Pull the needle back out, keeping it close to the fabric as you make the next punch. As you “march” along following the grid pattern, you will be leading with the oval hole on the needle with the yarn trailing behind (3d).

*If the punches are too short, your yarn isn’t feeding through smoothly. If the punches are too long, the needle hit a previous loop and pulled the thread out. This can be trimmed off at the end.

*If you make a mistake, you can easily pull the yarn out and try again.

Step 4: Continue punching

Punch along the outside of each shape and then fill it in. To fill in, you can either go back and forth in straight lines (4a), or continue around the contour in a spiral pattern (4b). Working in straight lines is easiest following the woven grid, but there may be a noticeable linear pattern in the rug. The punching pattern is up to your preference. Too much yarn with too little space can warp the rug. In order to prevent overcrowding of punches, I use a pattern of two rows punched, one row unpunched, and also leave one row of fabric unpunched in between colors (4c).

When you’ve finished with a section, gently pull the needle out of the fabric while holding the yarn in place, then cut with scissors (4d).

*Cotton yarn is more difficult to cut than acrylic yarn so a good pair of scissors is useful.

Step 5: Finishing the rug

Once you have finished punching the rug, cut out the rug by following the dotted lines. Cut the slits on the dotted lines while being careful not to cut the yarn (5a). These tabs will be folded inward and glued down to minimize loose strands of monk’s cloth.

Trim the excess yarn off of the back (5a). Spread white school glue over the entire back of the rug using a paint brush (5b). Fold over the cloth tabs and add more glue (5c). Spread a thin layer of glue onto the felt backing and press them together, with the loop at the top (5d). Let the glue dry for about 24 hours with the felt backing facing up.