Micah is an artist, designer, and teacher who’s an expert in punch needle rug hooking - a type of textile craft that can be used not only to create rugs and cushions, but also fashion and art.

Micah’s unfinished projects include a stalled attempt to create a piece of punch needle art every day for a hundred days, and several ideas for punch needle fashion that she’s never quite got round to starting.

We talk about the struggles that have stopped her progressing that work, as well as the complexities of trying to navigate the worlds of art, fashion, craft, and business all at the same time.

If that weren’t enough, Micah has also just released her first book, Punch Needle Fashion, which explains how to make different pieces of wearable art.

About Micah

Micah Clasper-Torch is a Los Angeles-based artist, designer, and educator helping to lead the modern revival of punch needle rug hooking.

With a background in fashion design from The Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City and the Politecnico di Milano in Italy, Micah blends fine art, heritage craft, and wearable design to create one-of-a-kind textile pieces that range from coats and accessories to wall hangings and soft sculpture.

In 2019 Micah launched Punch Needle World, an online community, shop and educational platform dedicated to uplifting the craft and its history, and making high quality supplies and training accessible around the world.

Her debut book, Punch Needle Fashion, came out in June 2025 from Quadrille –– it brings punch needle into the world of contemporary fashion through 15 original projects and a beautifully photographed exploration of the medium.

Links of interest

Punch Needle Fashion - https://www.amazon.com/Punch-Needle-Fashion-Accessories-Wearables/dp/1837832218

Micah’s website - www.micahclasper-torch.com

Micah’s blog, including information on how to get started in punch needle art - Blog – Punch Needle World

Micah’s Instagram - @claspertorch & @punchneedle.world

unfinishing is the podcast about projects that are incomplete,abandoned, works-in-progress or not public. It’s presented by Emily Anderson. You can find more episodes and get in touch with us here: https://unfinishing.co.uk/.

My guest in this episode is Teresa Stenson, a writer and zine-maker based in York. She’s the creator of My 90s Teenage Diaries, an online project in which she revisits her old diaries and shares extracts alongside present-day thoughts and reflections.

She’s also a published short story writer, with work placed in several literary prizes and anthologies, including the Guardian’s Summer Reads contest.

My 90s Teenage diaries is a work-in-progress, and in this interview with Teresa we talk about the emotional and practical challenges of keeping it going.

Teresa also shares two diary extracts during our interview. One is a letter that her teenage-self wrote to her future husband, and the second is a list of flirting tips.

Towards the end of this episode, Teresa tells me about her day job as a freelance ghost writer and editor, helping her clients all over the world to tell their own stories.

We also talk about the comedy persona Teresa created sometime in the mid noughties – an alter ego called Bella De La Rocher – who by coincidence has published an unfinished novel. Teresa continues, sporadically, to share Bella’s creative works and her inner world online, though sometimes that's just photos of potatoes.

Links of interest

More unfinishing episodes: https://unfinishing.co.uk/.

My 90s Teenage Diaries: https://teenagediaries.substack.com/

Teresa’s zines are here: https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/TeresaWrites?ref=profile_header

Teresa’s Insta: @Teresa.Stenson

Most of a Novel by Bella De La Rocher: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Most-Novel-Bella-Rocher-ebook/dp/B07XLP7RB6?ref_=ast_author_dp

Bella’s insta: @BellaDeLaRocher

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