When purchasing monks cloth for punch needle, these are some of the things you might want to think about: When you stretch the fabric the picture may become distorted which is the last thing you want! Keeping the guidelines straight helps ensure your completed project looks like your original design. With your design drawn on to your punch needle fabric you now need to stretch it over your frame. Normally you would draw your design onto the centre of the fabric, leaving a border for stretching and hemming. These are intended to help you when stretching your fabric over a frame or hoop. If the fabric is cream in colour, the guidelines are normally white. Some monks cloth will have guidelines woven within the fabric on it. Using a ruler to count the number of holes per inch on monks cloth Guidelines on monks cloth Do this using a piece of fabric that isn’t already stretched as this will distort it. If you have some fabric that you think is monks cloth and you don’t know what the count is, you can use a ruler or tape measure to count the holes per inch. Monks cloth that is suitable for most punch needles will have 12 – 14 holes per inch (or 24 – 28 threads per inch, as monks cloth is woven with a double strand). Fabrics with a tighter weave will not normally have a count as the threads are woven too tightly together to count. This will give you a guide as to how loosely woven the fabric is and which punch needle you should use with it. This refers to the count of holes or threads per inch. Loose weave foundation fabrics normally come with a ‘count’. With an unthreaded punch needle, or the closed tip of small scissors you can gently rub the fabric and the threads will move back into place. This is where the threads have been moved apart. When you pull your punch needle loops out, it will look like they have left large holes in the fabric. Just like with knitting, pulling out stitches and starting again when punching is called “frogging”. Monks cloth is extremely hardwearing and – even better - it’s forgiving, allowing you to pull your stitches out and re-punch if you make a mistake or want to change things up. One of the main traditional uses of punch needle and rug hooking is (of course) making rugs and carpets so people needed a foundation fabric that was tough enough to be walked on. When put under tension it grips your loop stitches in place evenly. It’s normally composed of 100% cotton and has a loose, even weave which allows the punch needle to move through the fabric smoothly. Monks cloth is a foundation fabric manufactured for rug making crafts such as punch needle and rug hooking. Traditionally monks cloth is used for rug making crafts such as punch needle and rug hooking whereas aida is used for cross-stitch embroidery. Monks cloth and aida are both two types of fabric used for crafting. One of the most common questions I get from people who are just starting out is about the difference between monks cloth and aida. Most yarns will follow this system so it will help you when choosing yarn for your project. Sometimes it will also indicate which knitting or crochet tools work best with it. When purchasing yarn it should have the weight and type listed. A good place to use as a point of reference when choosing yarn is the Craft Yarn Council’s Standard Yarn Weight System. Yarn however has such a broad range with terminology and weights differing across the world. Luckily for punch needle there aren’t too many different types of punch needle, fabric or frame to use. As the punch needle gets wider you’ll need to use a looser weave of fabric and thicker yarn. But as a beginner, I stuck closely to materials designed specifically for punch needle to make my life that little bit easier!įor punch needle there are four key materials that you will need to get started:Įach different component will need to be used with a complementary material, wider punch needles with chunky yarn and loose weave fabric, finer punch needles with thinner yarn or embroidery floss and a tighter weave fabric.Īs a general rule of thumb, the smaller the width of the punch needle the tighter the fabric and thinner the yarn. Once you’re familiar with a craft it’s easier to mix things up and try new things – different fabrics, different yarns and tools. This can be complicated by materials or tools having alternative names in different countries. Often, keeping things simple is the best way to go. W hen you start a new craft it can be difficult to understand the differences between all the tools and materials you need.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |