Soft mirror using trendy punch needle technique

1   Cut around the outside edge of the template. Place the template in the middle of the embroidery fabric and mark the corners.

2   Cut out the rest in the order of 2, 3 and 4 as shown on the template until you have a total of four templates.

3   The four templates should look like this and are now ready to be drawn one by one.

4   Place the largest one so that it lines up with the marking first made on the embroidery fabric. Using a pencil, draw along the inside edge of the template.

5   Place the second largest template so that it lines up with the outline you have just drawn. Using a pencil, draw along the inside edge of the template.

6   Place the smallest template in the middle of the design and draw along the edge with a pencil. The pattern is now ready.

7   Now thread the needle: Thread the needle through the tip and all the way to the top of the needle. Now thread the yarn through the loop of the needle threader and pull the yarn all the way down through the needle.

8   Insert the needle threader through the small hole in the tip of the needle and thread the yarn through the loop of the needle threader. Now pull the yarn through the tip of the needle. The needle is now threaded.

Set the needle length to 5 (the longer the needle, the larger the loops)

9   Attach the embroidery fabric to the embroidery frame. Since the entire pattern cannot fit in the embroidery frame, start in each corner, as shown in the picture.
Once the fabric is pulled tight, you can start to punch needle.

Punch needle with a stitch length of approx. 2–3 mm, remembering to insert the needle all the way down every time. Start along the edge of each pattern and work towards the centre. Important: Leave 1.5 cm along the outer edge of the pattern for the embroidery seam allowance.

10   Once the pattern is filled with yarn, cut the ends of the thread.

11   Attach the backing by applying a generous amount of glue with a brush and then allowing the glue to dry.

12   Cut a right angle in each corner of the seam allowance. This ensures a nice finish when folding the seam allowance on completion.

13   Cut out the middle of the embroidery at a distance of approx. 1.5 cm from the embroidered section for the seam allowance.

Now cut small notches in the embroidery seam allowance inwards towards the edge of the embroidery. Leave a gap of approx. 1 cm between each notch all the way around.

14   Fold in all the edges and attach them with a layer of glue. Allow the glue to dry.

15   Remove the mirror from the frame to avoid getting glue on the mirror. Glue the embroidered piece to the mirror frame and allow to dry. Insert the mirror once the glue is dry.

16   To create a nice finish along the edge of the mirror frame, brush a little glue just below the edge of the embroidery.

17   Press down a little bit of the loops and attach them with the glue to hide the white embroidery fabric. Your mirror is now ready for use.

Template   Print the template here.