This Doll Face is competely covered in tiny hand done punch embroidery stitches. I used our Plush Punch Hand Punch needle and a sewing type of thread. The body project is embellished with the same process only done in Free-form punch embroidery style and beading.
Punch Embroidery has been around for a "zillion years". There is a long and interesting history that goes with the punch embroidery process. We have promoted it since the 1970's. We were part of a group of "crafter" who found it again and began designing patterns and promoting the tools and supplies. This rediscovered process was 'new again then, so many people had not heard of it or had any idea how it was done. Several new and some old tools surfaced. We developed our own version of this easy to use hand punch and began doing designs for magazine publication. We got to be known as the Punch Embroidery King and Queen. In due time a battery and electric punch embroidery hand held machine was developed. This added speed to the whole process up making projects even faster to do. We have sold that EASY PUNCH Embroidery Machine for nearly 25 years.
For years we have said we "should" do a doll face and the shading using punch embroidery which we just did. It was designed for a project I will teach at our Doll Club. But it is so smashing I wanted you to see it too. As always my husband Doug did the face design and the shading area, maped out for me to follow. I used our hand punch the Plush Punch and some thread that is the weight more or less of buttonhole twist. I did the punch embroidery, which took a couple of evenings. Sew the doll head, cut it out, stuffed it as usual. There it is, part of our class. I also did a body. First dyed the fabric, then followed the pattern that came out of the dye process and added punch embroidery stitches and free form punch embroidery stitching and added beads, button and what 'knots as additional embellishment. All this will be part of our fun class.
Can't wait til we are teaching. This is going to be SOOOO MUCH FUN. Check out our websites to purchase the Plush Punch Hand Punch or check Dougs site for the EasyPunch Embroidery machine. If you are thinking about Punch Needles, it a best to have both the hand tool and the battery/electric. They have different looks.
A new book was written last year on Punch Embroidery. It is written by Marinda Stewart and called PUNCHNEEDLE The Complete Guide. We have two projects in the book. Check pages 132 and 170.
Barb Keeling
