The Duck - back side

First piece was made by hand using a punch needle from the local craft store. Slowly getting the hang of it

The Duck - front side

I learned a lot using the punch needle first. Fabric tightness, handling the needle, how it actually works

The Duck Pillow

The Duck Piece ended up as a pillow for my new couch. They fit each other well

Tufting gun

My tufting gun and some other essentials needed

Carpet gripper

Perfect for making the primary cloth nice and tight. Next frame I make, I will put in two lines though

Yarn yarn yarn

It takes a lot of yarn to make a carpet! I'm using acrylics now - not only bc of the price also for the bright colors

Second carpet on its way

I don't design or plan in advance. Here I started from the middle - actually the neon green and then onwards from there

The back

When you tuft you work on the back side of the rug. Here is a close up. I also really like this side

Front

Here is a look at the same area from the front side. Perfect fluffyness

Yarn endings

There are a lot of little pieces of yarn left over on the floor when you tuft. Some day I will figure out a good way to use them

Yarn on the floor

Taking care of an easy flow of yarn to the tufting gun is one of the most time consuming tasks. Patience is needed!

An elephant!

With no prior plan it is always exciting when something appears. Here it was elephant!

The eye from the back

Close up of the lines. I'm still figuring out how close they should be for the perfect thickness

The Elephant Carpet

Here is the finished Magic Carpet No 1. Some people actually see two elephants. I do too (after having it pointed out)

My first magic carpet

This was the reason I started tufting. A colorful rug for my room. Mission accomplished

New start

Ready for the next magic carpet. The frame is set on a homemade bench, so I can't really see the front while working

Tufting begins

Again I have no prior plan or design. This time I started with the big central dark blue area.

Finished tufting

The final result from the back side. I rarely look at the front of the rug while working, it makes it very exciting at the end

The front side

This is the magical part - turning the frame and seeing the colors come to life. The carpet taking on an almost 3D perspective

Front in outside light

Outside the colors are even more brilliant. It is time for the post-tufting work

Time to glue the back

To make sure that the yarn stays in place I glue the back with liquid latex. The ammonium smell makes it an outside job

Taking it off the frame

It is time to get the rug off the frame and cut the exess material

Spray glue FTW

Spray glueing the edges. I'm getting better all the time and the spray glue helps!

Gluing the backing cloth

I buy a non slip-filt for the carpets. It is trisky to put on but again the spray glue saves the day.

Trimming and finalizing

The front needs a good trimming. I'm using a beard trimmer this time. Again time and patience is needed. Next purchase a sheep shearer!

More trimming and finalizing

I love the edges to be clear on the front. So I'm on my knees looking at every little detail. Trimming, cutting and adjusting

Magic Carpet No. 2

This is the finalized carpet. I could go on and on trimming and touching up - but I also love the little imperfections. So here it is

The Magic Carpet in use

Here you can get an idea of the size of the carpet. It is 175x135 cm. that is 6x4,5 ft. Its final destination will be in my very white mini-cinema-room