Punched pieces are a lovely way to decorate plant pots, especially when displayed on tables or shelves. While making this cover for a plant pot, I decided to make a sleeve to slip over an existing pot rather than a container with a base. As a result, this project is so much easier to make and use and it will be simple to keep the inside clean.
I’ve sized the plant cover for a pot and tray about 12.5cm (5 inches) in diameter, but you can easily adjust the size of this project to suit any pot — keep in mind that you may have to adjust the size of the pattern by simply adding more repeats to your design.
Tools and Materials
- Stretched frame of Monk’s cloth with minimum inside dimensions of 20 x 55cm (8 x 22 inches)
- Staple gun and staples
- Download the plant cover template from bookhou.com/pages/patterns, sized at 15cm (6 inches) in height
- Light source
- Soft leaded pencil
- Oxford Company #14 mini punch needle tool
- Aran/worsted weight yarn suitable for use with a #14 mini punch needle in 5 different colours – 2 x 100g balls in each colour (for other types of punch needle use the appropriate weight yarn)
- Staple remover
- Scissors
- 25 x 60-cm (10 x 24-inch) rectangle of lightweight canvas for lining
- Pins
- Sewing machine and zipper foot
- Sewing needle and matching thread
Directions
1. Stretch the Monk’s cloth over the frame. A 20 x 55-cm (8 x 22-inches) frame will give you enough room to comfortably lay out the planter design.
2. Place the photocopy of the planter template facing forward against the back of the Monk’s cloth on the stretched frame so that by repeating it your traced drawing will result in a 15-cm (6-inch) high x 50-cm (20-inch) long pattern.
3. Hold both up to a light source so that you can clearly see the lines of the pattern through the base cloth. Using a soft leaded pencil, trace the image of the planter design onto the front of the stretched frame.
4. Once the design has been transferred onto the base cloth, remove the photocopy from the back of the stretched frame.
Punching
5. For this project, the finished side will be the pile side or the opposite side to the side you will be working on.
6. Working at a table with enough space to lay out all the materials, arrange your chosen yarns. To start punching, first outline each shape in the correct colour yarn, then fill in the interior of each outlined shape.
7. Once finished, remove the base cloth from the frame using a staple remover and lay the piece flat on the table with the finished pile side facing upwards.
8. Using your scissors trim the base cloth around the planter design to leave a 4-cm (1 ½ -inch) seam allowance all the way around, taking care not to fray the cut edges too much.
Sewing Up
9. To make up the planter, cut a piece of canvas fabric to the same size as the finished punched needle piece, including the seam allowance.
10. Place the canvas lining and punch needle piece right sides together with outer edges aligned. Pin the two pieces together with the punched side facing upwards. Using a sewing machine fitted with a zipper foot, sew as close to the edge of the punch needle stitches as possible, but leave an unsewn gap of 10cm (4 inches) about halfway along one short edge.
11. Turn the planter right side out by bringing it through this unsewn gap. Close the gap by hand sewing a couple of whip stitches where the planter joins at the top, middle and bottom. This will leave two open spaces, but if you prefer you can completely close the gap with a neat row of whip stitches.
12. Finally, bring the short ends of the planter together to create a cylinder with the punched pile side facing inwards.
13. Hand sew the short ends together. Once finished, turn the planter right out so that the pile side is now facing outwards and slip over your plant pot.
More from Punch Needle:
Cover courtesy of Quadrille
Excerpted with permission fromPunch Needle: Master the Art of Punch Needling Accessories for You and Your Homeby Arounna Khounnoraj, published by Quadrille May 2019, RRP $19.99 Paperback.
