Sep 27 2009
Punch Hooking: Trying to Teach Myself Hooked Rugs
making a mess of the burlap and yarn, this is my first attempt at figuring out hooked rugs
I’ve been in love with antique and vintage hooked rugs for as long as I can remember. The traditional ones are beautiful and remind me of my Eastern European roots.
from lulusmith.com/blog
A few years ago, I visited a native american art gallery on the Tuscarora reservation. Ironically, the art gallery is in the back of a giant cigarette pole barn conglomerate belonging to none other than Smokin Joe Anderson, (a man I have ranted against on this very blog).
The Native American hooked rugs I saw were beautiful. Images of nature, mysticism, of varying textures and components. The artist used long yarns hanging down, silver charms, interpretive shapes and forms and natural colors. I was hooked! (Excuse the pun).
So for a few years now, I’ve been haphazardly trying to gather information about how to do this art. It sounded kind of simple. I’ve read the history and seen the gallery images.
The problems I’m encountering are that it’s not a very popular craft- so there isn’t much out there in the mainstream. I’ve discovered I probably want to do “punch hooking”, which uses rug yarn punched through the fabric medium into a design. The other option is hooking strips of wool. I don’t think I am up to that step just yet. I really need a project that is easy for me to get started. I have so much else going on that it complicated. If, in time, my focus changes to rug making- I’ll gladly collect old wool garments and cut them into strips but right now, uh.. no.
So, off to JoAnn Fabrics and Michaels Arts & Crafts armed with less than zero knowledge about how to start. I came home with a “punch hook” for rug yarn, a loom, and some burlap. I have a bag of good intentions of rug yarn already.
I should mention there are no real step by step instructions available online. Not that I can find. They tell you sort of what to do. They don’t tell you how the yarn gets anchored onto the burlap. How to move the punch hook, how to end the yarn. Little details like that.
I have found Deanne Fitzpatrick’s Rug Hooking Studio, which does offer helpful info but no real step by step getting started instructions.
Then I found this irritating article on eHow, which says How to Make Hooked Rugs and then describes frigging hook-a-rugs from the 70’s!!!
My library luckily has a very low budget and therefore has very old books. Tomorrow I am heading over there to find some books from the 70’s about punch hooking.
Oh and did I mention this is NOT latch hooks? NOT hook-a-rug??? If one more 18 year old with bleach blonde hair takes me to the hook a rug aisle when I ask questions I am going to weave her hair into my next failed attempt!!!
Wish me luck, I’m going back out today. Maybe I can find a beginner’s kit that actually has directions or something. If I ever FIND directions, I will definitely link to them here!
In the meantime, I do have some beautiful sites to share with you for people who are actually making hooked rugs. Of course, they are selling them for $6K each, and operate schools in New England where you can learn the craft. But I’m looking for a $30 entree into this art. Not a $3,000 entree.
Lisa’s Gallery of Rugs
[...] me, I thought I’d learn a happy little craft. Enter rug hooking. Many of you read my recent post about how there is no direction for rug hooking. In fact, I settled for “punch hook” [...]
Hi there!
I stumbled upon your entry while doing some searching around for info on rug hooking…NOT latch hooking, or the cheesy, furry rug kits that all the craft stores seem to have! I have been on the same kind of quest as you, with the same bleach-blonde girls leading me to latch hooks
I don’t know if you’ve had success finding more info but I found some helpful articles about how to get started hooking and wanted to share them with you!
Great photo tutorial about the basics of getting started and hooking some loops:
http://www.jeannesullivandesign.com/CustomerCare/Tutorials/RugHooking.aspx?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1
Another getting started article with alternative indy ideas, such as using recycled t-shirts instead of wool!
http://www.mookychick.co.uk/diy_ethic/rug_hooking.php
I am a knitter and crocheter, which means I have TONS of yarn, and not much desire to go pay for new/used woolen fabrics, so I am thinking of trying to hook with yarn…what do you think? Good luck! I’ll have to look around on your blog to see if you have any newer posts about this topic
Cheers!
Sara
I came home from a thrift store expedition today with a 1970’s Phentex rug punch needle and have been Googling madly for instructions on how to use the danged thing. Thats how I ended up here. Good luck to you! I’m gonna check back and see how you’ve made out.
rhtoubes@q.com
I do both punch needle rugs and embroider punch. Did you get the help you need?
I’m 54 years old. I teach English at a community college north of Des Moines, Iowa.
Hi….. I just googled “best yarn for punch hooded rugs” and here I am. I have been collecting supplies: burlap, rug yarn for the last year and still have not started trying to figure this out. My mother was doing this before i came along (in the forties) and I remember doing it with her. I have her needle, but the frame broke. If any one has any i would love to hear. I will check out the links that Sara posted.
We did punch-hooking in junior high in the early 80s. There wasn’t much to it as far as anchoring the yarn as we were taught.
You want to look into to Reader’s Digest Complete Guide to Needlework which includes rug making. I have the older edition (circa 1980) but there is a new one out more recently as well.
Yep, the same here, have had a punch needle for a heavy yarn for years and now want to make stair treads. I need to know what to do, so will follow some advice found here. What did we do before google? I remember watching Gramma doing this, so willing to give it a try and just love the look of punched rugs. will come back to you all when I know more. Just need a really good book with picture instructions….. I taught myself to knit , so this can’t be that hard..
Get Amy Oxford’s book called Punch Needle Rug Hooking and that is all you need to make punch hook rugs from beginning to end…..
{google} Amy Oxford or green mountain rugs, It is easier to punch on monks cloth, but don’t get the monks cloth at joanns or michaels. By it from a supplier. I do both traditional rughooking and rug punch.