The Washington herald., 1914-04-24
PUNCH
WORK DESIGNS

WORK DESIGNS
Many Of our amateurs In art needle
work hesitate to attempt punchwork' but
when one gets oter the FIRST timidity the
work is really delightful and g,es along
quite essily. The work Is 30 effective
tn: Il Is q pity that more Of 1t 10 not
attempted. There are many little books
which come with ''ustrations Of the dif-
ferent stitches. making them remarkably
easy to understand and to copy.
Loosely woven linen is best for punch
wor,-. as the holes necessary in the work
are made by pushing the threads apart.
Under no circumstances should they De
| broken. finer material may be used II
No. Il needle is used. which needle
makes smaller holes than on the loosely
woven linen. When stamping the design
upon the material, or even when buying
an already stamped piece, care must be
taken to see that the dots are on line
| with the weave of the goods; that Is,
| along the even line of the threads.
When beginning the work see that the
thread Is securely tied and the end fast
ened down with a sewing needle. When
joining a fresh thread. join the two
the work the thread is transferred to
| regular sewing needle and secured by
several threads.
There are many beautiful designs for
this work, but none is daintier or pret-
tier than the dogwood design. design
that at first glance would make one
think OF wild roses. The pretty heart
shaped petals OF the flowers come closely
together. sometimes overlapping. To
he he ctiVe
the petals curl at the edges. The curled
flaps are done in solid satin stitch, while
| the inside of the petals are in punch
work. The centers of the flowers. some
times known as the central disks, are
| done in French knots. One may have
| foliage or there may be no sign OF fol-
| iage, only the dogwood blossoms them
selves floating. as it were, on a sea OF
white lawn or linen. Thus We have three
different kinds of stItchery: namely,
| punchwork, satin stitch and French
| knots. The last two stitches are quite
easy, and the first is only difficult in
theory.
The oval punchwork design. some
times called the picture frame" Is ef-
| fective. Do three ovals in punchwork,
and then embroider about them in solid
| stitch, a running vine consisting of both
flowers and foliage. This design is espe-
cially good for a blouse. Three ovals
may be used. the center one being
slightly dropped to form a graceful de-
sign from the average dogwood design.
Very fascinating wild rose edgings can
be made in buttonhole stitch and punch
work. and IL foliage is used the leaf
stitch and the stem stitch are. Of course
required. Have the border so stamped
that the flowers are on the edge Of the
goods-that is. when the border is finally
cut out-and that enc petal forms a large
| scallop in the border. The border may
! be in the following order: Two large
| scallops composed of six smaller seal
lops; then the wild rose peeping over
the edge of the material. joining with
the scalloped edge and one of the rose
petals, forming a large heart-shaped
| scallop in the border: next, two large
scalIops. each composed of six smaller
scallops; then a wild rose, and so on
until as much edging is made as is re-
| quired. Spraying gracefully from each
| wild rose should be two sprays Of foli-
age, two long sprays on the first rose.
| two shorter sprays on the secnd rose.
! two large sprays on the third. and 50 on.
| Punchwork initials are effective in
deed. The outer edge of the initials
may be in buttonhole or solid stitch
and the inside OF punchwork- Initials
| Of straight lines rather than OF curves
lend themselves more beautifully to this
treatment
The butterfly design in a bureau scarf
Of batiste over a colored foundation is
beautiful Both the satin stitch and
punchwork are used. The butterfly is
outlined in high padded satin stitch and
the inside OF the wings are done I'm
punchwork The body OF the butterfly
is done in high padded satin stitch. The
colored foundation showing through is
very effective.
Guest towels with tiny, graceful bas-
kets done in punchwork are also efec-
tive. The basket should be the only
part Of the design done in the punch
| work, and IL is a pretty idea to do this
punchwork with straw-cOlored silk 10
make the basket look realistic as
possible The handle OF the basket
should be done in the straw-colored silk.
but it should be worked in the satin OF
solid stitch. as il is sometimes called.
The flowers should also be done in
highly padded solid stitch. and II there
is a ribbon that should also be done In
solid stitch.
A punchwork design that involves not
little work, but which is strikingly
effective when finished. is that in which
the entire background of the design is
done in punchwork and the unembroid-
cred design is thus made to stand out
by its elaborate background. II the de-
sign is done in solid work upon the
punchwork, It is even more effective,
and resembles nothing so much as beaten
brass. There Is a fruit design Of ap-
pies, pears, ana grapes that is quito
elaborate, but well worth the time con.
sumed in embroidering II one has the
time to spare. This design should be
obtainable at any art needlework store
that is well stocked.