I finished hooking this rug last January and shortly thereafter dyed the yarn and whipped the edge and made a label. Around the same time I asked my dad to prepare a piece of wood for me to attach to the top edge to help in the hanging. If I recall correctly, he made it for me the very same day....but I hadn't fully thought through my plan. How was I ever going to sew through all of those little holes?
Enter the 18 gauge syringe needle. I was first introduced to this handy tool by Jane last May, as a handy way to attach the leather purse handles. It worked equally as well and as quickly for sewing on my piece of wood.
The process is simple: push the syringe needle from the back, through the hole you want to sew in.....then insert your sewing needle into the hollow syringe, pushing it through to the back.
Remove the syringe needle and pull your sewing needle to tighten up your stitches.
Note: You don't want to come up in the middle of a hooked loop - I find it quite helpful to bend my backing, so that I can make sure the hooked loops are out of the needle's way. Also, you can pick up the pace a bit by placing both needles through the back at the same time (as shown), then just pull tight on your sewing needle before inserting it back up through the syringe (i.e. you only need to use the syringe for every other stitch (where you are working from the side when you can't see the holes).
The rug is now hanging up on my wall. I'm not sure I'm 100% in love with this hanging method....but I'm going to give it some time and see how it looks in a few weeks. In the meantime I'll be tackling a few more jobs on my to-do list over the next couple of days....and then I've promised myself I can start on a new project this weekend. The ideas are swarming - it will be a stiff competition to see what materializes on the frame first...
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In response to the comments, here is a photo of the finished piece....
