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Rug Hooking & Punch Needle

$155.00

Saturday March 21, 2026
10:00 am - 4:00 pm

Instructors: Tania Martin & Yvonne Iten-Scott

Materials Fee: $55 (paid directly to the Instructors)
Students: 12

Rug-making was historically a necessity to keep floors warm in people’s homes, although today many rug-making techniques are used for decorative and functional purposes such as wall hangings, table runners, pillows, as well as floor rugs.

In this workshop we will learn two techniques that repurpose unusable garments, those that are no longer mendable, and yarns leftover from knitting or crochet projects: punch needling and rug hooking.

In punch needle work, yarn is pushed through to the front while looking at the back. Whereas in rug hooking, yarns and strips of cloth are pulled from the back through to the front while looking at the front.

During the workshop, we will make two pieces - a punch needle mug rug and a hooked hangable or frameable artwork. Participants will learn to:
Prepare the foundation cloth
Draw their own pattern
Punch and hook the pattern
Choose appropriate fibres to achieve textural variation
Finish a piece to lay on the floor or table and to hang on a wall

Alternative techniques such as sculpting, proddy, and quilling will also be introduced. After the workshop, participants will have acquired the knowledge needed to create their own rugs, tapestries, or other types of work.

Please bring a pair of scissors as well as any items of well-used clothing (e.g. jersey knit i.e. T-shirt, nylon or wool tights, linen or cotton sheets or pillowcases, or remnants from sewing projects) that you would otherwise throw out. We will be cutting them into strips for rugmaking. Also bring scraps of yarn leftover from crafting projects.

Please bring photographs or images for inspiration, as each participant will design their own pattern or motifs. Choose subjects that can be translated into very simple colouring-book style line drawings.

Rug hooks and punch needles will be provided for use in class; however, participants are welcome to bring their own. Those who are new to rug hooking or needle punching and who have enjoyed learning these rug-making techniques will be able to purchase these tools at the end of the workshop.

Saturday March 21, 2026
10:00 am - 4:00 pm

Instructors: Tania Martin & Yvonne Iten-Scott

Materials Fee: $55 (paid directly to the Instructors)
Students: 12

Rug-making was historically a necessity to keep floors warm in people’s homes, although today many rug-making techniques are used for decorative and functional purposes such as wall hangings, table runners, pillows, as well as floor rugs.

In this workshop we will learn two techniques that repurpose unusable garments, those that are no longer mendable, and yarns leftover from knitting or crochet projects: punch needling and rug hooking.

In punch needle work, yarn is pushed through to the front while looking at the back. Whereas in rug hooking, yarns and strips of cloth are pulled from the back through to the front while looking at the front.

During the workshop, we will make two pieces - a punch needle mug rug and a hooked hangable or frameable artwork. Participants will learn to:
Prepare the foundation cloth
Draw their own pattern
Punch and hook the pattern
Choose appropriate fibres to achieve textural variation
Finish a piece to lay on the floor or table and to hang on a wall

Alternative techniques such as sculpting, proddy, and quilling will also be introduced. After the workshop, participants will have acquired the knowledge needed to create their own rugs, tapestries, or other types of work.

Please bring a pair of scissors as well as any items of well-used clothing (e.g. jersey knit i.e. T-shirt, nylon or wool tights, linen or cotton sheets or pillowcases, or remnants from sewing projects) that you would otherwise throw out. We will be cutting them into strips for rugmaking. Also bring scraps of yarn leftover from crafting projects.

Please bring photographs or images for inspiration, as each participant will design their own pattern or motifs. Choose subjects that can be translated into very simple colouring-book style line drawings.

Rug hooks and punch needles will be provided for use in class; however, participants are welcome to bring their own. Those who are new to rug hooking or needle punching and who have enjoyed learning these rug-making techniques will be able to purchase these tools at the end of the workshop.

Tania Martin is a fibre artist based in Québec City. Trained as an architect, an architectural and cultural landscapes historian, she is also a professor at the Université Laval School of Architecture. There she teaches architectural design studio, historic preservation and the study of Canadian built environments. She holds a Ph.D in Architecture from University of California, Berkeley and a Fibre Arts Certificate from Haliburton School of Art and Design. Her work has been published in Uppercase. Tania is expanding her academic research activities to embrace artistic creation in the fibre and textile art domains. She communicates ideas and raises questions about our everyday surroundings using visual and tactile media alongside words and images. Tania seeks opportunities to disrupt disciplinary boundaries by transposing drawing conventions and architectural design principles through fabric, batting and thread, as well as machine embroidery and hand stitching. Soft, wooly, comforting, organic, and fragile, fibre and textile works contrast playfully and significantly to the perceived hardness of buildings constructed in stone, timber and concrete. Through their juxtaposition she invites the viewer to imagine and confront spaces differently, using other senses and nontraditional points of reference.

Yvonne Iten-Scott is a fibre artist residing in Erin, Ontario. Her primary medium is wool fibre, and she uses multiple techniques, including hooking, punching, felting, braiding, wool appliqué and art quilts. She is a faculty member at the Haliburton School of Art and Design in both the Fibre Art Certificate and the Continuing Education programmes. Additionally, she has taught workshops internationally. She has completed artist residencies in Iceland and the Shetland Islands. Iten-Scott is the past president of the International Guild of Handhooking Rugmakers and is an Oxford certified punch needle instructor. She has won numerous awards, and her pieces are held in private collections. Iten-Scott’s work has been published in magazines including What Women Create, Rug hooking Magazine, Fibre Focus and Hyperallergic. Iten-Scott has recently garnered significant attention for the censorship of her work Origin by the American Quilting Society in 2025.