ABOUT
Punch Needle World is a creative community and educational resource dedicated to the art and craft of Punch Needle Rug Hooking. Our goal is to provide the highest quality tools, materials, guidance, and support for punchers at all levels of skill and experience.
Join us to connect with like-minded fiber artists, shop for high quality tools and materials, learn the skills to improve your technique, and get inspired by fellow artists and makers. No matter where you are on your journey, we’re here for you every step of the way!
OUR MISSION
Punch Needle Rug Hooking has a rich, 150+ year history, based in quality, tradition, slowness, durability, reuse, and accessibility across class strata.
Here at Punch Needle World, we are on a mission to uplift this legacy and ensure that Punch Needle remains imbued with these core values as it enters its 3rd wave, the first of the internet age.
In each decision we make, we strive to center inclusiveness, sustainability, and quality. We are as committed to amplifying the artform’s contemporary trajectory as we are to grounding that arc in the love, labor, and innovation of its historical pioneers.
How it began
When I first came across punch needle in 2018, I fell in love.
In some ways it felt like a natural addition and extension to my background in art and fashion design, but there was something about this craft that spoke to me in a way I hadn’t experienced before. Slow craft. Natural materials. Making by hand. Sustainability. Community. History. I felt I had found a missing piece in my life and my work. But when I began searching for information about the craft and technique online, I found very few resources. What I did find often seemed to contradict itself, leaving me frustrated and confused.
In my efforts to learn more, I applied to train under renowned rug hooker Amy Oxford at the Oxford Rug Hooking School in Vermont, and in 2019 was officially certified as an Oxford Instructor. Through this experience, not only did I gain a whole new level of skill and knowledge that I had not been able to find online or through my own research, but I found connection to a group of like-minded, passionate creatives and a storied art form that had been largely overlooked by modern crafts and art communities. I became even more committed to the craft, and felt called to keep the history alive, and ensure that the contemporary artists working in this medium were not being overlooked.
I founded Punch Needle World in 2019 to provide the communal support and education about this craft that I felt was missing in my own early practice. I wanted to create a dedicated space to answer questions about punch needle, to celebrate and share the work I was seeing done with the technique, and to point people towards the tools and materials that I had found to be essential for success with the craft.
This is an artform that I believe is so necessary, and so timely. Both for us as individuals, but also for our world – through the use of sustainable materials and the ability to reuse and upcycle to create beauty. I want to remind people that these crafts existed. To not let things be forgotten. And to provide an opportunity to feel joyful about making, to experience the thrill of creating something beautiful and useful with your own two hands.
This small company is run my by myself, my husband and a couple amazing creatives and logistics pro’s who help to create the illusion of something much bigger than myself. Thank you for being here! I can’t wait to see what you create.
xx Micah