According to the internet, embroidery is supposed to be therapeutic. My experiences with embroidery, however, have never gone that way. From failed sewing projects to a wrongly-stitched scarf, I had all but given up on the craft — until Native was given the chance to join Hueplay Studio’s Punch Needling workshop.
While the final products displayed in Hueplay Studio look intimidating at first glance, I was pleasantly surprised to find punch needling was in fact, the easiest embroidery method to learn. When we entered the studio, we were greeted warmly by the staff, and the materials for the workshop were set in front of us.
Hueplay Studio is divided into two sections: the main storefront houses the craft table for punch needling, and an inner room houses an art studio for art-jamming sessions. The entire space was aesthetically decorated, complete with fairy lights, neon signs, and plush rugs lining the interior of the art studio.
As we sat down at the craft table, we began to draw our designs on a piece of paper. For the artistically challenged, the studio also has pre-drawn templates that showcases the most popular designs customers chose. Feeling like playing it safe, I chose a whale design, while my coworker drew a flower. After deciding on our designs, we had to manually transfer them onto the cloth itself, which would serve as a base for the final product.
Choosing colors for our project was probably the most fun part of the experience, with a wide range of colorful yarn bundles laid out on a moveable trolley. You can choose from almost every color possible in the studio, from pinks and blues to browns and greys. As my design only required three colors, I chose blue, white, and black yarn, but you’re not limited to the number of colors you can pick for your creation.
Finally, the real work began as the staff took us through the basics of a bobble stitch, the easiest stitch to learn. Bobble stitches require you to punch every hole in the cloth, while the harder line stitch allows you to skip holes in the cloth, but is technically harder. Threading my chosen color was surprisingly easy, with the help of a handy threading tool that erased all my frustrations of finding the right angle to thread my yarn through the needle.
After a few missteps and plenty of encouragement from the staff, I finally managed to thread the outline of my design into an adorably shaped whale. Punch needling requires focus and patience, and filling in the colors of my design took up most of the three-hour workshop. I found the experience quite therapeutic, after settling into a comfortable rhythm of punching in the colors while imagining being surrounded by an oceanscape environment.
You can choose to completely fill in your project and turn it into a cute coaster, like my coworker did, or let it hang on your wall as a decorative piece. I chose to use my embroidered whale as a decorative piece, as the wall in my room coincidentally had an empty spot. We snipped off the excess threads from our designs, and the helpful staff glued our cloth to a felt backing, safely sealing our finished stitches.
While posing with our finished crafts at the studio’s aesthetic wall, I couldn’t believe I had finally embroidered something of my own without it turning into a half-done wreck. The encouraging staff made sure the experience was fun, and I felt very satisfied when I got to take home my very own creation.
If you can’t get enough of punch needling, Hueplay Studio also sells a take-home punch needle kit with all materials included to kickstart your punch needling hobby. Besides punch needling, the studio also offers art jamming, after-dark painting, and rug-making workshops.
Would I recommend this workshop to beginners at embroidery? Definitely. After all, based on my recent experience here, embroidery can be therapeutic, with a little guidance and a cozy atmosphere to explore your creative side. Click here to book this experience now.
This article is in partnership with Hueplay Studio.
Hueplay Studio Punch Needle Workshop
Address: 183 Jln Pelikat, #B1-82/83/89 The Promenade @ Pelikat, Singapore 537643
Opening Hours: Daily from 10 am–10 pm
Contact: 8768 5861
