This craft is cropping up all over people’s TikTok FYPs (Picture: Getty Images)
It’s a new year, so of course there’s a new must-try trend on social media and this one is perfect for anyone looking for a new crafty hobby in 2024.
The TikTok girlies are all getting into punch needle embroidery, which is also just known as punch needle, or punch needle art.
The craft is traditionally used for rug making, but people are making all sorts of things with it, from pictures, to coasters (but they call them ‘mug rugs’), and even iPhone cases.
According to hobbycraft, punch needle is ‘so easy to learn’ and the perfect hobby for ‘beginners’, as it’s a craft that’s ‘quick’ and the possibilities are ‘endless’.
All you need to get started are a punch needle pen, some wool/yarn, a frame, and some fabric to embroider on.
Once your pen is threaded and your fabric is firmly in place on a frame for support, you quite literally just punch the needle through the fabric, lift it out and then punch again to create a stitch.
This technique creates a continuous loop as you punch. According to themoderncrafter.co.uk, the ‘loop grips into the weave of the fabric and is secured in place by the stitch the needle creates’.
There are several different types of stitches you can try, depending on how confident you are feeling. And to make things even easier, there are a number of beginner hoop kits you can buy that will have everything you need, including instructions.
You only need a few items to get started with punch needle embroidery (Picture: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
The hashtag #punchneedle has garnered a whopping 974 million views on TikTok and there are over 884,000 posts with the tag on Instagram.
One TikToker, named @duyguturgok, who regularly posts videos trying out different crafts recently shared her roundup of crafts she tried in 2023 and her video has inspired many to give punch needle embroidery a go.
She rated the hobby ‘100/10’, saying: ‘It’s the most therapeutic craft’.
However, she added a disclaimer that the materials you use ‘make a huge difference’, so encouraged anyone considering it to find the ‘right ones’ for them.
She then posted several clips of her working on punch needle projects and people were left so impressed with how easy the hobby looks. A user named @lunazaak replied to one of her clips saying: ‘You just… stabby stab and get art??’
While @truelinnzy proclaimed: ‘Oh great… Another hobby I don’t NEED but really really WANT’ and @ismeltoosoft joked: ‘Helllllo new hyperfixation’.
Similarly, @lisamsaurus replied: ‘Welp, looks like I need to go to the craft store this weekend’, as @poetica.knitting added: ‘Ok I’m obsessed, where do I sign up.’
Others on the app have shared their creations too.
And the trend even has users on X (formerly Twitter) talking, with a number of people posting that they want to try punch needle in 2024.
A user named @weretogethernow even went as far as to say learning punch needle was going to be their entire personality in the new year, and honestly, same.
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Is it just us, or does this actually look quite easy?