Punch Needle Embroidery

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

I love punchneedle embroidery! I took a class a few years ago and was
instantly hooked. I don't use it as much as I'd like, but I love the fact
that it goes quickly & creates some really lovely designs. Play around with
shading and overdyes a bit - you'll be pleasantly surprised!

--
Jacqueline
Carmichaels PA
"lula" wrote in message
...
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

Hello Jacqueline,

Yes, that's exactly what I was thinking about too, the different
overdyes and other specialty threads to "play" with......can almost
imagine how wonderful the effects can be! Good to know about your
experiences!
---
Lula
http://www.woolydream.com
Needlework Adventures

Jacqueline wrote:

I love punchneedle embroidery! I took a class a few years ago and was
instantly hooked. I don't use it as much as I'd like, but I love the fact
that it goes quickly & creates some really lovely designs. Play around with
shading and overdyes a bit - you'll be pleasantly surprised!

--
Jacqueline
Carmichaels PA

lula said
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.

Darn you, Lula. I promised myself that I wasn't going to buy any more stuff
until I finished a few things but I'm sorely tempted to get some of those
needles as I dearly love three dimensional effects.

Has anyone purchased from http://punchneedlemarketplace.com/?

--
another Anne, add ingers to frugalf to reply

Haven't seen these designs before. They're pretty nice if you're into
"cute". It's a bit harder to find much else, so I usually adapt designs
from other sources. Fortunately, that's easy to do with punchneedle.

--
Jacqueline
Carmichaels PA
"anne" wrote in message
ews.com...
lula said
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.

Darn you, Lula. I promised myself that I wasn't going to buy any more
stuff
until I finished a few things but I'm sorely tempted to get some of those
needles as I dearly love three dimensional effects.

Has anyone purchased from http://punchneedlemarketplace.com/?

--
another Anne, add ingers to frugalf to reply

Hi Anne,

The punch needle technique would definitely add that extra cool looking
dimension to your embroidered pictures! Just wish I had more time to
"play" with my needles right away, but have to put them down for a
couple of months to work on a "trunk" show.

I'm looking forward to whole new world of options using the punch
needles........such as the example of using overdye and other specialty
threads as posted by Jacqueline.
---
Lula
http://www.woolydream.com
Needlework Adventures

anne wrote:

Darn you, Lula. I promised myself that I wasn't going to buy any more stuff
until I finished a few things but I'm sorely tempted to get some of those
needles as I dearly love three dimensional effects.

Has anyone purchased from http://punchneedlemarketplace.com/?


lula said
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.

lula said
I'm looking forward to whole new world of options using the punch
needles........such as the example of using overdye and other specialty
threads as posted by Jacqueline.

Yesterday, I stopped at a local LNS to see if they had any needles in stock.
The clerk said the owner is intrigued by the technique but was hesitant to lay
in a stock of the $45 set of needles. Instead, she has less expensive, single
ones on order and as soon as the needles come in, someone from Nashville has
promised to come to teach a class. I saw the teacher's samples, one using Weeks
overdye and the other plain old DMC floss. Due to her skill at blending the
colors, it was hard for me to tell the difference.

I can't wait for the class!!! Because it's non-linear, colo(u)ful and 3D, and
looks like it'll work on a variety of fabric, I think I'll like this technique.

--
another Anne, add ingers to frugalf to reply

Hi Anne,

It's wonderful to read that you're going to give punch needle a try!
Please keep us informed on your progress and projects. I also feel
you'll really enjoy the results using a punch needle for added depth to
your embroideries.

I for one would love to know your experiences learning as well as
"seeing" your projects!
---
Lula
http://www.woolydream.com
Needlework Adventures

anne wrote:

lula said
I'm looking forward to whole new world of options using the punch
needles........such as the example of using overdye and other specialty
threads as posted by Jacqueline.

Yesterday, I stopped at a local LNS to see if they had any needles in stock.
The clerk said the owner is intrigued by the technique but was hesitant to lay
in a stock of the $45 set of needles. Instead, she has less expensive, single
ones on order and as soon as the needles come in, someone from Nashville has
promised to come to teach a class. I saw the teacher's samples, one using Weeks
overdye and the other plain old DMC floss. Due to her skill at blending the
colors, it was hard for me to tell the difference.

I can't wait for the class!!! Because it's non-linear, colo(u)ful and 3D, and
looks like it'll work on a variety of fabric, I think I'll like this technique.

--
another Anne, add ingers to frugalf to reply

lula said
It's wonderful to read that you're going to give punch needle a try!

Even though I use colo(u)rs with abandon, I've been getting a bit bored because
there's too much of a 'sameness' to the look I'm able to produce. My current
project is another transformed from x-stich Alma Lynn design, Summer Angel. I'm
doing it on a ground with a sand and seashell pattern and have been waffling
about using tarpunto (small areas stuffed) to make parts pop off the 'canvas'.

If I think the results are frame-worthy, I've got a frame I want to use. I
don't know the term for a deep recessed area but think shadow box effect.
Instead of using those doohickies that are attached to the inner surface and
are bent to anchor the backing close to the glass, I'm thinking about putting
the stitching on a backboard that's big enough to cover the exterior of the
frame and then nailing it to the frame which would create a not so shallow
shadow box. I could then include a pile of real shells or miniature beach toys.
I'm also thinking of covering the plain black frame with fabric.

Wish me luck because, as is often the case, I find that the finished results
look too amateurish so they end in the scrap pile.

--
another Anne, add ingers to frugalf to reply

Somehow I missed the original post.

I just wanted to say that I started making punch needle rugs, learned
a few tricks to make them long lasting too.
Such as threading through the loops on the back to keep the stitches
from pulling out over time.

Then another person more experienced in punch needle rugs taught me
how to chain the back as I go using a small tool they made from
modifying an existing tool.

My next purchase was going to be the embroidery sized punch needle
set, but the store sold it and did not plan on purchasing another.
Then my sister bought an embroidery machine that is computer driven
that can do pile work as well, so my plans fell by the wayside.

TTUL
Gary