Punch Needle Tattoo Designs: 18 Beginner-Friendly Projects and Over 25 Additional Patterns with Style

Textile artist Buchanan debuts with a fun manual for making punch needle (“a type of embroidery in which instead of stitching the fabric you punch it”) projects that resemble tattoo designs. Covering the basics, she discusses choosing the right fabric (monks cloth is ideal for “chunky” yarns, and linen is preferred for cotton yarn or embroidery floss), shows how to properly “punch” textiles, and offers tips on best practices, recommending that readers space their “punches” 5.1mm apart and push the needle “down as far as it will go each time.” Among the more straightforward projects, there’s hoop art featuring a ribbon reading “GRL PWR” draped across a heart and a coaster made by punching a circular star design on a piece of fabric and gluing a cork circle to the bottom. More involved pieces include a cushion cover with a scorpion on it, which requires a “beginner’s level of machine sewing,” and customizing sliders by gluing punch needled felt pieces reading “love” and “hate” over the existing straps. The contrast between the street tattoo designs and the cozy medium amuses, and Buchanan’s comprehensive introduction will help novices dive in. Crafters will get a kick out of this. (Nov.)