My name is Jaime, I was born and raised in Philadelphia, and now live in West Philly. I have a BA from Wesleyan University in Fine Arts and American Studies (essentially social studies). I worked for the Philadelphia Mural Arts program as an artist assistant painting and installing murals around the city from 2019-2023. Most of my formal art training has been in oil painting, which I still love, but I began learning how to punch needle and rug-tuft during the pandemic and slowly started to create designs for pillows and wall hangings. In 2024 I started to dip my toe into the craft fair scene in Philly and a bit in upstate New York. I’ve really enjoyed getting to interface with people and other makers directly, it’s been very fulfilling so far even though I’m still getting started.

About Rug Tufting!

My pillows and wall hangings are made by rug tufting and/of punch needling. I have a hand punch needle which I use to create looped pile and a tufting gun which I use for cut pile, which is what I am using for the majority of my work right now. The tufting gun pushes yarn through an open weave cloth, either monk’s cloth or primary tufting fabric, and the cuts the yarn. It is a handheld machine that I control and move- so while it does automate the punching and cutting of the yarn, it is still a handmade process. Once the piece is fully tufted I put a layer of latex glue on the back and let it dry. Then, I use electric shears to even out the surface and clean up the lines between color blocks. For a wall hanging I glue on a backing of thin hardboard, metal D-rings, and felt. For the pillows I use fusible interfacing to cover the glue so it won’t stick to the pillow insert and then sew the backing out of upholstery fabric and add a pillow insert. You can see photos of my tools and materials below- if you have any other questions or are interested in trying out rug tufting, please feel free to reach out!