Category: DIY

Crafty Fun: Punch Needle Art

Apparently, I don’t have enough crafts in my wheelhouse… so I decided to learn something new (again). On a visit to our local Michael’s to pick up some ribbon, I happened upon a gorgeous embroidery kit in the Johnathan Adler collection area (this one). So, I figured I’d buy it for some mindless fun.

But when I got home, I realized it’s NOT an embroidery kit – something I know how to do – but a punch needle kit. I’ve never punch needled before. In fact, I didn’t even know that punch needling WAS, but I figured I could probably figure it out.

And I did. But with no help from the kit instructions. Instead, I watched a couple YouTube videos so that I could figure out how to thread the punch needle and then how to make the pretty swoopy carpet-like bits on the front of my project.

The kit is made so that you keep the completed project on the hoop, but I thought it would look more finished if I framed it in an old picture frame and had the beading hang outside of the frame. It wasn’t really harder to do that. I basically had to get the iron out to get rid of the circular hoop crease in the fabric, wrap the fabric around a photo mat, and then stretch and sew it into place.

Here’s how it turned out:

Isn’t it the cutest?! I love the way the rainbow punch needle loops came out and the pretty matching colors of the beading. It was a good task to do when I wanted to keep my hands busy and just kind of let my brain rest for a while.

And it looks great in a dark little corner of my den.

All in all, I really enjoyed my little visit into punch needle art and I’ll be on the lookout for some additional patterns that I might want to try!

Disclaimer: Not sponsored and no affiliate links.

Funem Swift Loom: Learning a New Skill

Source: Funemstudio.com

I’ve talked about my love of visible mending in the past and over the years have mended jeans, sweaters and quilts. When I saw a little loom pop up on my Instagram feed with a way to cutely patch small holes, I immediately clicked through to check it out.

I ended up purchasing a Swift Loom set from Funem Studios, which came with the swift loom pieces and a Cotton Warp Thread bundle of three colors. (It doesn’t look like my set is currently available, but the loom is here)

And yes, I’m also quite tempted by the larger looms to make scarves, napkins, place mats and even bookmarks (SO FREAKING CUTE), but I figured I’d try the little loom first to see if I enjoyed it. Also, I JUST set up my stained glass studio, so I don’t have a ton of other crafting/art making time…

Anyways, it was honestly pretty darn easy. I had a couple smaller holes in my jeans to experiment on, so I followed the Funem Studios instruction video that came with my order and hooked the loom into my jeans.

I made a few mistakes initially. Stopped the video. Rewatched it again. Tried again. Repeat. Repeat.

After my first square, I moved onto the second and realized that I might have made a mistake in the weaving portion the first time, so I experimented with a different way. This actually worked out great because I could look at both weaves and see exactly what the changes I made did as a result.

I LOVE it. Once I figured it out, it was pretty easy, quite quick to do and there are so many ways I can personalize it with different thread colors, thread weights and weaving patterns. Each mend becomes a tiny piece of art… kind of imperfect, visible and full of character.

Most importantly, it’s so satisfying to turn something worn-out into something uniquely mine. I can’t wait to use this new mending loom on everything from jeans to sweaters to tote bags!

Also, I am really wanting one of the larger looms too. Perhaps in the fall/winter when it’s too chilly to do my stained glass work in my sunroom…

Oh I do have one question though — does anyone know what that hook/needle thing on the top photo with the bend in the middle is for? It came with my set and I have no idea what it’s used for!

Disclaimer: Not sponsored and no affiliate links.

A Quick and Easy Dress Update

I’ve talked about easy ways to tailor your clothes to make them fit better or make them feel more “you” and I’m at it again. This time it is the literal EASIEST tailoring job I’ve EVER done on a dress, so I wanted to share it with you all in case you have a dress or skirt sitting in your closet that would benefit from the same treatment.

The dress:

I was browsing the thrift store, saw the fabric of this dress from 15 feet away, and immediately clocked it as something from Anthropologie. Even better, it was my size and a style I recognized – the “Somerset” dress that I own in another colorway and love!

The only thing was that I didn’t really *need* a second Somerset maxi dress. So, I figured I’d hem it to more of a midi dress so that I could get more use out of it. And that is where I completely lucked out…

The bottom of the dress is tiered and has these pretty little folds above each tiered section. So all I had to do was carefully cut off the bottom tier, BEHIND the folds and save myself the trouble of getting out my sewing machine and hemming it!

That’s right, I JUST HAD TO CUT off a tier. No needle and thread. No sewing. NOTHING.

It took less than 5 minutes.

And BOOM. That’s it. Dress tailored in the easiest way possible. It was so easy, I woke up, decided to shorten it, cut the bottom off and wore it to work that day. That’s what we call an easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy moment, my friends!

Here’s the thing, there are TONS of tiered dresses and skirts out there. So if you have one in your closet that isn’t getting worn much because you’re not as into the ‘maxi’ length, give it a little chop-chop. Depending on how the tiers come together, you may get lucky and not even have to hem it at all. (If you MUST hem it and you can’t/don’t want to sew, you can always use this for a quick and easy hem: https://amzn.to/4s3Lkkc)

Oh and if you’d like to see a quick before/after video which gives a better look at the dress folds and the inside of the hem where I cut it, I made a Reel here:

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