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 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.
Heartfully Cheryl logo |
Rose |
Ribbon piece on basket |
Hearts - design drawn from cookie cutter |
Punchneedle doll |
©2018 Cheryl Fillion
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