Did some fun activity called tufting on my birthday last week! I've been eyeing this activity for months and finally convinced myself to do it.
Tufting is a type of technique used for manufacturing textiles such as rugs and carpets. According to Wikipedia, tufting has seen a rise in popularity since 2018 when Tim Eads started an online community for tufting and made electric tufting guns easily accessible.
Since then, many people have created more practical and decorative tuft pieces such as mirror frames, coasters, bags and more. And recently, the Malaysians have also caught this tufting wave and I noticed more and more tufting shops mushroom-ed in the Klang Valley. 😄
Took this shot at the tufting workshop I was at. I believe these are some sample tuft pieces done by the instructor herself.
Below are some basic steps of the tufting activity.
Step 1: Prepare the tuft image
I wanted to tuft a sunflower image. 🌻 So I searched for a nice sunflower image online, saved it on my phone, and showed it to the instructor during the workshop. (I'll show you the actual image later).
Step 2: Choose what you want to tuft
In Malaysia, different tufting workshops provide different tufting options. One of the few popular ones are rugs, mirror frames, coasters and tote bags.
I didn't want to tuft a rug because I don't want to spend hours (and money) tufting it and end up stepping on my own craft every day. 😂 So I chose to tuft a tote bag for myself. I think it is more practical for my daily usage.
On top of that, the class fee for rug tufting is also more expensive. The price starts from RM190 (USD 42).
Step 3: Choose the yarn colours
These are the 42 available yarn colours at the workshop.
These are the selected colours after the discussion with the instructor.
Step 4: Trace the image
The instructor helped me to reflect the sunflower image on the white fabric using a mini projector.
Then I used a marker pen to draw the outline of the sunflower. Different markers represent different yarn colours.
Step 4: Let the tufting begins!
Similar concept to sewing, 2 yarn strings needed to be fed through the holes (red circled) on the plywood attached to the backing white fabric and the other end of the yarn is then fed through another hole (red circled) on the tufting gun.
Then, the trigger on the tufting gun is pressed to punch the yarn in rapid succession to the white backing fabric.
Tufting is an art and craft activity that needs interest, concentration, meticulousness, physical strength, and most importantly, patience!
Image: KnowledgeBySean, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International via Wikimedia Commons.
Why did I say so? Cause the tufting gun weighs around 1.5kg! So imagine holding the gun in the air for hours. I actually had a mild muscle sore on my right chest and arms the next day. 😂
Tada! After 2 hours 20 mins, my sunflower tuft piece is finally done. Does it look like a sunflower? 😂
After cutting out the tufted sunflower from the white fabric, the instructor helped to stick the remaining fabric pieces back to the centre.
And lastly, the tufted sunflower piece is glued to the tote bag.
Done! 😊 I like touching the sunflower, due to its "fluffy" texture. Haha
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I've been thinking if I should share this next part of the story, cause it felt like it might "ruin" the flow of the "beautiful" story above.
Think think think... Ok, let's go... (Long story ahead)
So I'm gonna show you something that you may not be able to unsee after this. Hahahaha 😄
Ready?
...
...
...
Image screenshot by my phone.
This was the initial sunflower design that I wanted on my tote bag. 🤣
Photoshopped image
For weeks, I imagined my tote bag to turn out like this.
But it ended up looking like this.
Like a piece of pizza on the bag! hahaha 🤣
Disappointed much? Definitely. In fact, the more I tuft, the more I realise my sunflower is not going to turn out as how I wanted it to be. I was sulking and complaining at myself... You're just bad at what you do la. This is like some cheapo sunflower.
This activity costs me RM 99 (appx USD 25. The cheapest package I can find in town), and I need to drive almost an hour to this place (I don't like driving by the way 🤣). On top of that, I also spent 2h20m to complete this piece. Not to mention, I also spent months wrestling in my head about whether I should sign up for this activity. It just felt like everything was wasted, cause the final outcome doesn't reciprocate with my money and effort spent. 😂
While I was talking to God throughout this whole process, I realise one thing.
How fast comparison can be a thief of joy.
Well, is there a place for comparison to happen to improve ourselves? Yes, I believe so. But if the comparison affects our well-being in a negative way, then perhaps we are focused on the wrong thing.
Lesson from this activity
To look at things objectively, I think my tufted piece didn't turn out the way it looked because:
Complicated design
I thought the sunflower rug image looks simple and nice (yes it is an actual tufted rug sold on Amazon). But if you observe clearly, it is not that simple. 😂 It has many curving lines and colours within each petal. It is actually difficult to manoeuvre the tufting gun to such preciseness, especially for a beginner.
Conclusion: Choose a simpler design with lesser lines and colours next time.
Limited choices of yarn colours
The colours available at the workshop are very basic and limited, so it will not be able to reflect the exact colours I wanted.
Conclusion: Check with the owner of the tufting workshop on the number of available yarn colours and seek advice if it is possible to tuft the exact colour and design next time.
Lesson for my heart
I tend to criticise myself a lot, especially when it comes to my own creations, performance, thoughts etc. It used to be way worse, now slightly better. 😄
I was reminded that the reason I signed up for this activity was not to make the best tote bag in the world. It was to have fun and to enjoy the process. The satisfaction of completing something is very rewarding actually.
Although the final outcome didn't turn out as I expected it to, I learn to be content with what I created with my own hands. I love the sunflower tote bag more now as I am able to appreciate the heart and story behind it. It is my first tuft tote bag after all! 🌻
I'm proud that I pushed myself to say "yes" (and spend) on my wants, as I tend to hold back a lot, especially when it's not a necessity.
It's okay to have fun sometimes! 😊
Doesn't look that bad, isn't it?
It is still a very vibrant-looking tote bag actually! 💛
Here's a short video I made for myself to remember this special experience. :)
Your tote bag is very pretty! Well-made indeed. I have tote bags but only has prints.