Craft Preview: November 13, 2021 Issue


table runner

We highlight punch needle embroidery this week, with this lovely table runner.

Punch needle embroidery is making a come back and is a great way to add décor to fabrics.

Our table runner features a stylised floral motif worked on a linen fabric in Black, Cream and Orange. The designer picked the yarns in this example (Alize Cotton Gold and Nako Pirlant), but you can substitute with a cotton mix 4-ply and an acrylic DK.

Punch needle embroidery is a relaxing quick craft, particularly suited to people with dexterity problems.

  • Photograph courtesy of Tuva Publishing.
  • Photograph courtesy of Tuva Publishing.

The punch needles required to do it are widely available from yarn and craft shops or you can order from many online sites including www.woolwarehouse.co.uk, www.hobbycraft.com and www.amazon.co.uk.

In addition to the yarn, fabric and punch needle, you will need a means of transferring the design (carbon paper or a temporary fabric marker), a round embroidery hoop and fabric glue. A sewing machine is useful for the long seams but you can hand stitch if you prefer.

This is a design suited to someone with some experience of working with a punch needle. We have graded it as intermediate.

If you are new to the craft and would like to try this, we would recommend you practise on some spare fabric or with a few smaller designs first.

This design is taken from the book, “Modern Punch Needle” by Duygu Turgut Gokpinar, published by Tuva Publishing, RRP £14.99. It is available from good bookshops or online.

If you would like to add a floral touch to your home, this is the ideal way to do it.


Keen to try punch needle embroidery to make this table runner? Pick up the latest issue of “The People’s Friend” from Wednesday.

Liz O’Rourke

Liz is part of our Features Team and her hobbies include knitting and crafts, reading and foreign travel which are also her main responsibilities on the “Friend”. If you walk into the office you will soon spot her desk, it’s the one piled high with knitwear and balls of yarn!