Punchneedle Embroidery – What is it?

I do lots of different hand work and I tend to concentrate on one for a while and then move to another.  Recently I picked up my punchneedle embroidery again and I thought I would repost some blogs about this type of embroidery.

Punchneedle embroidery is an area of small loops ‘punched’ into tightly woven fabric with embroidery thread.  The difference between this and other embroidery is that there is only one stitch, a hollowed needle is used and the design is worked from the back of the fabric.

It has been around for a very long time. In fact the samples of the needle were found in ancient Egypt and were made of hollow bird bones.  It has been very popular in Russia which is why it is sometimes known as Russian Punchneedle. When a Russian group known as the Old Believers migrated to the US they brought along this form of embroidery.

It is actually very easy to do, as I mentioned there is only one stitch.  Projects tend to be small so they are finished quickly.  It is rather soothing to do because it is very repetitive.  And there are very few rules.

So how do you do it?  Once you have the needle threaded (that tends to be the most difficult thing to learn) you ‘punch’ the fabric from the wrong or back side of the fabric.  The needle is then just barely pulled out of the fabric to move it forward and another punch is made. This then means that the design is printed on the wrong side of the fabric but the loops show up on the front of the fabric and that is how the design is developed.

No knots are needed to keep the thread in the fabric. The loops stay in because of the friction of the thread and the fabric and when the fabric is released from the hoop, it goes back to an original state and tightens around the loops, which is why you need tightly woven fabric known as weaver’s cloth.

Here are some examples of punch needle embroidery.

                                            

 

                                            

 

                                            

 

                                            

 

                                            

 

The next couple of weeks we will look at the supplies and technique of punch needle.

©2018, 2021 Cheryl Fillion

Watercolor Pencils on Fabric

Last week I posted about using watercolor paints on fabric.  When I found the paints in a closet I also found a small set of watercolor pencils.  These are pencils which look and color just like colored pencils but when water is added to the fabric will act like water color paints.

 

I did the rainbow stripes again but I did one added step.  This was a small set of pencils and no purple was included so I took the blue pencil and drew it on the fabric and then with the red pencil drew over the blue in hopes that when I added water it would mix and become purple.

 

 

 

If using these pencils on paper, all you would need is a clean wet brush to make the markings look like paint.  But since I was using them on fabric I used the mixture of textile medium and water so I could make the paint permanent.

 

 

 

The pencil marks did spread out but not as they had with the paint.  It could be this was a cheap set of pencils or I have to admit an old set of pencils.  I might try it again with a newer set.

 

But I was still curious with what I had done if the colors would set.  So I let it air dry and then heat set it with an iron.

 

 

Not much of a change.  And my experiment with blending the blue and red worked a little.  In certain light the last line looked purple but when up close it really was a blue line with a red stripe through it.  (It was card to see clearly in a close up picture).

 

And no change after I rinsed it with hot water.  On one hand this is good that there is no change or fading of color but being watercolor pencils, I expected more blending of the colors when the fabric was wet.  They really were no different from regular colored pencils.  All in all this is good to know if for no other reason than watercolor pencils are more expensive. 

 

©2021 Cheryl Fillion

 

 

Watercolor Painting on Fabric

I have been using colored pencils on fabric for a while now so when I came across some watercolor paints in a closet one day, I thought “Hmm wonder if these could be used on fabric”.  I did some research and found that you could if you use the textile medium as I did with colored pencils.

 

So I gathered up all the supplies I needed: the paints, a container for water, fabric, brushes and the textile medium and started to play.  You want to use a white or cream colored fabric.  You probably can use colored fabric but the paint wouldn’t be as noticible.  Also make sure you have washed your fabric to get the sizing out of it.  Sizing won’t let the paint or textile medium adhere to the fabric fibers and will just was them both away. You will want to cover your work service with something water proof because you are going to get things wet. 

 

I remember using watercolor paints in art class in school.  The more water you added to the paint the lighter the color of the paint.  I knew I would be adding a textile medium later to the fabric which would lighten the color, so I did not want to add more water now. What I did was add enough water (just a couple of drops with my paint brush) to activate the paint.  I should mention here that the paints I am using were found in the kids craft area of a local craft store.

 

I wasn’t going to paint a picture; I just wanted to see how the paint would look on the fabric.   I dipped my brush in the paint and spread it in lines over the fabric. I was going for a rainbow effect.  I made sure I cleaned my brush in the water when I changed colors.

 

 

 

 

Now with the paint somewhat wet, I brushed a mixture of textile medium and water (I kept it a even mixture).  I also made sure my brush was clean. This time I wanted to get the fabric good and wet so using my brush I ‘painted’ the textile medium/water mixture on horizontally and then vertically, touching up any areas that might still be dry.  As you can see the paint began to run into each other as the fabric became wet and then became lighter in color.

 

 

 

As with using the textile medium with color pencils this needs to be heat set.  I could do it by putting it in the dryer set on high or wait till it air dries and ironing it with a hot dry iron.  I decided to let it air dry and then set it with an iron.  I was concerned that the paint would leave residue on the walls of my dtyer and with the heat become permanent (or worse the next time there was wet clothes in the dryer might transfer to my clothes).

 

 

I am glad I did because as it dried the paint bled more across the fabric.  It looks almost tie-dyed. 

 

 

As I often do when experimenting with textile medium, I then rinsed the piece after heat setting it.  Some of the color faded, actually wash off the fabric.  I could tell because there was green/blue water in my sink.  I just rinsed it with hot water, no soap.  But even with the faded colors I like how it turned out. Next time I think I will use more textile medium in my water/medium mixture.

 

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about using aloe gel to set colored pencils in fabric so I thought I would try it with the paint.  The first lesson I learned was that if I painted a figure in this case a heart, when the aloe or aloe and water was put on the fabric, the figure did not stay the same shape; the paint runs.

 

With the colored pencil and aloe, the color did not fade after heat setting it and then rinsing it. In this case, though, when I heat set it and then rinsed it, the color did fade. It spread more into the rest of the fabric as well.    The first photo is before rinsing with hot water, the second is after.   

 

           

 

The pictures below are another painted heart but now I used a mix of aloe and water.  It spread easier across the fabric and again eventually the fabric absorbed the paint.  I think it was easier to ‘paint’ the textile medium and water but if you can’t locate the medium, aloe is a good alternative. But even after letting air dry and heat setting it with a hot iron, when I rinsed it the paint faded. 

 

 

             

 

I am happy with some of the results.  But I am going to play with the paints some more.  As I mentioned change the amount of textile medium to water and maybe use a better quality fabric.  Try it yourself when you are in a mood to play with paints.  It is fun to think you can create your own colored fabric.

 

©2021 Cheryl Fillion