Q&A With Punch Needle Artist Rachel Lawson

One half of The Modern Crafter team, RACHEL LAWSON chats mindful crafts and sustainability

My sister Siobhan and I discovered punch needle seven years ago. We have also enjoyed embroidery from a young age. Siobhan and I were immediately drawn to the textures achieved by both these traditional crafts. My sister furthered her passion for fabric by studying for a fashion and textiles degree. We enjoy the mindful quality of working with our hands and feel strongly about the importance of this in an increasingly digital world. Growing up, our father ran small business as a furniture restorer. He owned a bricks and mortar shop selling his upcycled antique goods. There wasn't much that he couldn't fix! The attitude to repair rather than throw away was part of our upbringing and we have taken up this lifestyle by making, mending and upcycling.

I love to make all of Siobhan's designs but particularly her punch needle cushions. It only takes around five hours to whip up a cushion and every step of the process is enjoyable. Taking the time to relax whilst punch needling feels like a real treat. When I see my creation becoming a practical item it fills me with a great sense of happiness and achievement. The Monstera Punch Needle Cushion from our website is an absolute favourite of mine. It looks so eye catching and stylish on the couch!

Siobhan is inspired by nature and modernist simple design. All our makes begin life as rough sketches hand drawn by Siobhan. They are then scanned into the computer and turned into easy-to-follow designs. When we are putting together our craft kits, we take care to match the correct size of punch needle tool with the right weave of fabric and weight of yarn. We provide high quality tools and materials that we love to work with. If we don't enjoy working with a certain item, it doesn't go in our kit. The design and quality of our kits will offer our customers a much better experience and keep unwanted, unsustainable kits out of landfill.

We are proud to work with a heritage mill and support British wool heritage and British farmers. Sustainability is important to us, and we consciously make decisions based on our impact on the environment. Wool is one of the world's most sustainable fibres with sheep naturally generating a new fleece every year. It is 100% biodegradable, leaving no trace – unlike synthetic yarns, which can contain plastics that are unable to biodegrade in landfill and cause harm to our oceans. As we have full traceability of where our wool comes from, we also have the comfort of knowing it is made under the best animal welfare regulations.

Siobhan and I still can't believe that we have published our book, Punch Needle. It was a lot of fun to do, despite the fact that we had to put it all together whilst in and out of lockdown. The opportunity came about when we were approached by an agent who liked what we were doing and was seriously impressed by Siobhan’s designs. Schiffer Publishing released the title, and we are delighted that they chose us. The best part of the process was getting to work as a team with my sister and our photographer Diana. Siobhan came up with so many amazing designs and they were all such a joy to create.

We absolutely love teaching and sharing our skills with others. We enjoy meeting our community at our bricks and mortar shop in Saffron Walden, as well as at crafting events. It gives us a great sense of achievement to see other people enjoying this mindful craft and we are keen to support other crafters as they progress onto bigger projects. We have even hosted workshops for children as young as five! One of the great things about embroidery and punch needle is that you don't need to have any craft experience at all to get started. With punch needling particularly, it is like 'drawing with wool' and our embroidery kits always have a satin stitch which is the 'filling in stitch', so again it’s like ‘drawing with threads’.

This year we are looking forward to exhibiting at Yorkshire Yarn Fest for the first time. We will also be at The Stitch Fest together with The Knitting & Stitching shows in London and Harrogate. Hopefully we’ll be at Yarn Dale again, too. Plus, we would love to teach at Dovecot Studios in Edinburgh again. We are always on the look out for ways to expand as we love sharing what we do with others. When we hear from customers who have enjoyed making our kits, it encourages us to create new products.

Discover Punch Needle by Rachel Lawson & Siobhan Watt (Schiffer Publishing, £24.99), schifferbooks.com