Geez, as if I don't have enough to do........but using a Russian punch
needle is a technique I've been wanting to try for many years and
finally after seeing finished samples here and there and talking to my
fellow designer friend Pam Kellogg who has been "playing" with her set
of needles, I purchased a set of these punch needles.

My set came from a company known as the original Russian Punch Needle
company that spells the name as IGOLOCHKOY.

I got the whole set of three needles for $45.99....well made with sturdy
brass handles with a five year guarantee.
Each needle handles different number of floss "strands" or weight of
threads. There's a single strand needle, a three strand needle and a six
strand needle......can be used with other threads besides floss.

The punch needle technique makes a nice plushy looped or tufted surface
stitch, you work from the back of the embroidery......designs for this
technique will often come reversed.......some patterns are iron-ons you
can apply to the backside to follow the embroidery so it looks perfect
on the top or front of the fabric afterwards.

It's a great technique to be able to vary the surface textures on the
artsy applique collage ideas I like experimenting with.

The craft of old fashioned hooked rugs come to mind comparing punch
needle technique to the finished dense tufted surface of the rugs as
well as the similar folk art "primtive" style of the patterns available
at The Stitching Post in MD where the country style is popular and where
I purchased the needle set.

Naturally, the Wooly Dreams sheep mascots, are natural candidates for
punch needle tufts as well as many other animals. Just about any
subject, motifs can be used for punch needle techniques.

Then, there are hairstyles! Unusual hairstyles perfect for those over
the top characters, the ladies with attitudes, ha, even Queenie's royal
flyaway hair can be tamed with a punch.....needle that is.....the
options for punch needle are endless!

Even better, the punch needle works fast to cover the design surface and
uses floss by the "pound".......in my case, the punch needle will use up
some of the "extra" floss lying around here.......we used to do kits of
my charts for catalogs such as the old Stitchery catalog and ended up
with quite a few cones of DMC floss.

Overall, I'm looking forward to experimenting with the punch needle
using a combination of other embroidery techniques, different textured
threads, yarns and embellishments hoping to give all my projects that
"unique" look whether used on clothing or in decorative design.
---
Lula
http://www.woolydream.com
Needlework Adventures