




































CHAPTER  8: 
ADAPTATION OF PUNCH NEEDLE 

EMBROIDERY AS AN ADDED SURFACE 

DESIGN ON AFRICAN WAX PRINTS FOR 

NIGERIAN FASHION 

  
Contributed by 

Chika Chudi-Duru 

 

INTRODUCTION  

Surface decoration is the outward decoration given to the fabric. 

According to Naik and Wilson (2009), surface designing refers to 

the external embellishment given to a fabric. They further defined 

it as a structural and applied design on any substrate. And mentions 

that there are countless varieties of decorations that are used to 

enhance the surfaces of fabrics but their techniques differ. The 

clothes and type of embellishment depend on the specific end-use. 

The most prevalent techniques used to enhance some textile 

materials to aid their consumer acceptance are dyeing, printing, 

painting, embroidery, weaving and industrial surface finishes. Each 

technique has its own characteristics for instance, dyeing is carried 

out to add colours to the fabric using dyes, printing is used to 

impress an image onto a surface using paint or ink (Sleigh-Johnson 

2009), weaving is used to create structural and decorative designs  

(Naik and Wilson (2009), by combining basic and fancy weave 

structures.  Varieties of woven designs can be achieved by blending 

different fibres, and sources. The other surface finishes without 

adding any colour produce some peculiar pattern effects which 

transform the physical appearance of the fabric. Another technique 

of embellishing the surface of the fabrics through threadwork is 

called embroidery. A lot of Nigerian fashion designers have used 



Adaptation of Punch Needle Embroidery as an Added Surface … 

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embroidery and other techniques in enhancing African wax fabrics 

to make them more appealing to wearers and buyers and also to 

reduce monotony. 

In past and present times African wax fabrics have been 

utilized extensively in fashion. Elsworth (2009) in Bada (2013) 

says that in the fashion industry today, and all over the world, the 

Nigerian culture is being borrowed and incorporated into styles, 

signatures and works of partakers of the industry. He also said that 

the simple wearability of such materials as African wax prints has 

made the fabric not only a runway creation but everyday and even 

red carpets and movie premier wear of choice for the Hollywood 

big names.  

Djirackor (2013) proclaimed that just as Africa is not one big 

country, African print comes in many distinct types of styles 

applied to diverse fabrics, with their printing techniques and 

purposes. Super Wax, Dutch, Java, super print, Ghana wax, Cote 

d'Ivoire wax, Togo wax, Nigerian wax, veritable wax,  Bogolan, 

Batik, Bazin, Kente print and mud wax prints are some of the 

various prints used for both traditional and contemporary African 

styles, which non-Africans most commonly and indistinctly refer 

to as African print. He further stated that bold colours, stark 

combinations, and a wide range of patterns from geometric, animal 

and floral to even political messages and portraits of public 

figures—all are used to create garments for both men and women.   

Therefore, this study was theoretically guided by the 

creative ideas of some Nigerian fashion designers such as Deola 

Sagoe, Amaka Osakwe, Lisa Folawiyo and Ituen Basi who have 

been experimenting and reinventing indigenous Nigerian fabrics to 

turn them into contemporary fashionable wear (Jennings 2011) so 

that they will not go into extinction. They have been experimenting 

with indigenous fabrics to come up with appropriate cloth to suit 

the current trends in Nigeria. For instance, Lisa Folawiyo (Jewel 

by Lisa is her cloth line) in Arise fashion shows at New York 

fashion week for spring /summer 2010 and Paris fashion week for 



Chika Chudi-Duru 

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Autumn/winter 2010/11 showcased the results from an exploration 

carried out on the embellishment of the African print cloth with 

sequins, beads and crystals to give it a new look to suit the 

contemporary fashion globally. She further introduced her own 

custom–made African wax print-inspired prints on cotton, 

georgette and royal or shantung silk fabrics which she introduced 

into contemporary fashion.  She also showcased some apparel she 

produced with batik and mud cloth-inspired prints on velvet, linen, 

silk, satin and chiffon to typify African style. It has been observed 

by this study that most African contemporary designers working 

towards international fashion seasons have always combined 

culture in their designed apparel. 

This study also agrees with Ituen Basi who changed the 

African wax fabrics to adorable apparel through her patchwork on 

the fabrics, plaiting with the pieces of fabrics to form part of the 

clothes and colour-blocking techniques to suit the recent trends in 

fashion. She further redesigned adire and aso-oke by combining 

them to form styles which are being worn in contemporary fashion 

in Nigeria. All these concepts that centred on re-invention and 

transformation helped this study to practically explore the 

possibility of using punch needle embroidery to enhance African 

wax fabrics to add something new to the variety of embroidered 

African wax fabrics, add value to them and aid their sustainability.  

 

African wax fabrics and embellishment 

African wax prints are common fabrics found in Africa especially 

West Africa to be precise. They are of different categories of 

quality due to the processes of manufacturing. They are usually 

produced in the industry using hundred per cent cotton fabrics with 

batik printing. These wax prints are visibly present in the 

international and African fashion scenes. Nigerian fashion 

designers have begun to utilize these African wax prints to produce 

some apparel for different kinds of   occasions which can withstand 

any kind of competition outside the continent because they believe 



Adaptation of Punch Needle Embroidery as an Added Surface … 

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that they are indigenous to them. Some of these fabrics are 

constructed into different styles of wrappers, blouses, shirts, 

trousers, gowns, dresses, clothing accessories – earrings, bangles, 

hats, necklaces, bags, shoes, slippers, hand fans, bowties, ties, hair 

ruffles, bands and other fashion accessories. The African wax 

prints bear some surface designs which are in the form of printed 

designs with dyes, resin and printing inks based on African culture 

and worldview. Some of these designs are named after some 

personalities, cities, recent happenings in the society, buildings, 

sayings and occasions. To further enhance the surface of the 

already sewn wax prints to make them more appealing to the 

onlookers and attract more patronage, they are either beaded, 

embroidered with machine and hand or decorated with Swarovski 

stones, crystals and other trimmings but it is rare to find any of 

these wax-printed fabrics to the best of this study’s knowledge 

which has been decorated with punch needle embroidery as an 

added surface decoration. This is the main thrust of this paper. This 

study embellished some sewn African wax-print fabrics using the 

needle punch technique of embroidery.  

 

Designing of clothes with embroidery in Nigeria 

The endorsement on most African clothes that usually projects 

their origin is the type of embroidery applied to them. Many 

designers of African descent utilize embroidery designs on their 

sewn apparel. Once those designs are seen by an onlooker, they are 

recognized as African designs. Each part of African embroidery 

can be distinguished from one another based on their motif designs 

which showcase different ethnic cultures and worldviews.   

In Nigeria for instance, the history of embroidery dates 

back to centuries (Uduma, 2012), it is an essential part of Nigerian 

fashion which is cannot be neglected because of its symbolism. It 

occupies an important place in traditional Nigerian fashion. Even 

though Western clothes are being utilized by many people, 

embroidered clothes in Nigeria will not be ignored. They are still 



Chika Chudi-Duru 

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worn for important ceremonies. According to Ikande (2018), 

embroidery is an excellent addition to a sewn outfit. It is one of the 

ancient and common types of fabric decoration in Nigeria. Each 

feature of the design and pattern adds value to the cloth.  Uduma 

(2012), further mentions that history has it that the art of 

embroidery has been in practice by the Nupe, Hausa and Yoruba in 

Nigeria for a very long time (Heathcote 1976). Most of these 

embroidery were usually done by hand while recently, some are 

done with the aid of embroidery machines. These embroidery 

designs are done on capacious clothes known as babaringa / 

agbada. Different types of stitches are used to embroider different 

designs on these apparel to depict prestige and status. According to 

Saidu (2013), running, straight, chain, open chain, ladder, stem, 

satin, blanket and cross stitches are used in Hausa embroidery. He 

further observed that some motifs embroidered on those Hausa 

clothes are dagi (northern knots), aska biyu (two knives), aska tara 

(nine knives), linzami, gidan biyar (five coloumns), tambari etc. 

Some of the yarns used are cotton, wild silk or imported threads 

(Saidu, 2013) on traditional hand-woven or imported fabrics which 

could be made of natural or synthetic fibres. Uduma (2012) is of 

the view that embroidery that the art of embroidery was not 

practiced by the Igbo, but rather they had uli body designs which 

were converted to embroidery designs by the missionaries for table 

linens in the town of Arochukwu. Most cloth designers, still repeat 

old designs on fabric while constructing traditional clothing. They 

usually turn these clothes into pieces of artworks that are decorative 

and intricate based on their tradition but for fashion purposes. 

            Researchers like Heathcote (1979) and Umar (2010) to 

mention but a few have written extensively on Hausa embroidery 

however, it has been observed by this study that not much has been 

done as regards utilizing punch needle embroidery in decorating 

indigenous African clothes. Therefore, this study seeks to address 

the issue of decorating African wax printed clothing with punch 



Adaptation of Punch Needle Embroidery as an Added Surface … 

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needle embroidery technique to suit the contemporary fashion in 

Nigeria.  

 

   

Plate 1: Machine 

embroidery. Source: 

Chika Chudi-Duru 

(2019) 

Plate 2: Machine 

embroidery. Source: 

Chika Chudi-Duru 

(2019) 

Plate 3: Machine 

embroidery. Source: 

Chika Chudi-Duru 

(2019) 

    

Hand needle Embroidery 
This is the art of decorating fabrics or other materials using a needle 

to apply thread or yarn. It has also been defined as the 

ornamentation of textiles with decorative stitchery, (Ganderton 

1999). It is an ancient craft which comprises a lot of history and 

embroiderers all over the world use the same stitches. She further 

mentions that design patterns vary from place to place but the 

techniques of stitching remain the same. The art of embroidery 

dates to ancient Egypt and China. History has it that this needle art 

developed from the task of mending clothes. As people used their 

needles on holes and torn seams they found out the decorative 



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possibilities of sewing. Embroidery arts have always relied on 

several basic stitches as their foundation. The invention of 

embroidery machines in the 19th century was a major development 

in the practice of embroidery. This development enabled the 

availability of massproduced, machine-embroidered goods to be 

available to those who could not afford hand-embroidered 

products. Home embroidery machines were not common until the 

20th century. Before clothes and other items of domestic furnishing 

were mass produced, they were made at home and decorated with 

embroidery. Embroidery was used to decorate the household linens 

and garments. In different countries of the world, people 

concentrated on their own type of embroidery and these were given 

different names. During the medieval period, workshops located in 

Agra- northern India, created magnificent embroidered art for 

medieval rulers. Persian embroidery was used to decorate clothing 

items which conferred status and beauty on its owners.  In many 

regions of the world, hand-embroidered items were used to 

showcase the high status of their owners. For example in the 

Middle East, the upper class were the only ones that could afford 

hand embroidery. Persia, India, the Orient and European countries 

regarded embroidery to be a mark of distinction. In African 

communities, embroideries can also be found in different 

communities such as in Senegal, Togo, Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire, 

Cameroon, Ghana and many others. In Nigeria, embroidery is 

found on Hausa and Yoruba caps, and some men’s and women’s 

traditional clothing. This is usually done by machine or hand using 

various embroidery stitches and threads.  

There are a total number of 264 hand stitches according to 

Ganderton (1999). They  are as follows: chain, buttonhole, or 

blanket, running, whipped running, double running, back, split, 

threaded back, stem, cable cross, couching, satin couching, pearl, 

coral, double knot, chain, square chain, twisted chain, cable chain, 

broad chain, rope, scroll, paris, fern, Bosnian, chevron, thorn, 

cross, long-armed cross, zigzag, herringbone, closed herringbone, 



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shadow, basket, wheatear, Russian chain, petal, zigzag chain, 

rosette chain, loop, Vandyke, ladder, blanket, buttonhole, closed 

buttonhole, single feather, up and down buttonhole, open Cretan, 

feather, closed feather, double feather, chained feather, Pekinese, 

laced button hole, interlaced band, magic chain, singalese chain, 

threaded chain, guilloche, raised chevron, backstitched 

herringbone, raised lattice band, double herringbone, twisted lattice 

band, butterfly chain, raised chain band, diagonal woven band, 

striped woven band, Portuguese border, straight, arrowhead, 

seeding, St. George cross, ermine, square boss, star, woven star, 

woven cross, French knot, pistil, bullion knot, Danish knot, four 

legged knot, sword, fly, sheaf filling, crown, sorbello, Palestrina 

knot, link, lazy daisy, berry, long tailed daisy, detached wheatear, 

tulip, woven spider web, ribbon rose, ribbed web, buttonhole 

wheel, shisha, damask darning, double darning, brick and cross 

filling, satin, surface satin, encroaching satin, long and short, 

buttonhole filling, stem filling, leaf, open fishbone, attached fly, 

close fly, Cretan, close Cretan, Romanian couching, Bokhara 

couching, spiral couching, couched filling, laid trellis, back stitch 

trellis, Japanese darning, cloud filling, wave filling, window filling, 

pulled wave filling, three sided , honeycomb filling, Russian 

filling, diagonal raised band, ridged filling, punch, cobbler filling, 

step, mosaic filling, diagonal satin filling, ringed back stitch filling, 

Algerian eye, outlined diamond outlet, hem, ladder hem, serpentine 

hem, antique hem, Italian border, four sided, chevron border, 

diamond border, laced insertion, insertion bundles, Cretan 

insertion, knotted insertion, buttonhole insertion, needle weaving 

bars, zigzag clusters, corded clusters, Antwerp edging, sailor 

edging, looped edge, half chevron, scalloped edge, ring picot edge, 

buttonhole eyelet, overcast eyelet, square eyelet, upright gobelin, 

gobelin filling, Parisian, Hungarian, Hungarian diamond, single 

twill, double twill, bargello, chevron, Hungarian ground, straight 

cushion, Scottish diamond, diamond, long stitch triangles, lozenge, 

straight Milanese, double brick, brick filling, long and short brick, 



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basket filling, half cross, basket weave tent, tent, trammed tent, 

gobelin, encroaching gobelin, reverse sloping gobelin, canvas 

stem, Florence, cashmere, diagonal, byzantine, jacquard, Moorish, 

Milanese, mosaic, cushion, Scottish, checker, cross, diagonal cross, 

double cross, upright cross, diamond cross, Smyrna cross, double 

leviathan, diagonal tweed, broad cross, cross-corner cushion, 

Brighton, rice, plaited gobelin, Greek, plait, fishbone, fern, fir, 

Rhodes, half Rhodes, star, eye, diamond eye, fan, rya, turkey, 

houndstooth, knitting, old wheatsheaf, tied gobelin, French, 

pineapple, arrow  etc. (Ganderton 1999). These stitches remain the 

fundamental techniques of hand embroidery today.  

Some of these embroidery designs have some peculiar names given 

to them for easy identification and selection.  These stitches are 

grouped into four – 

 

a. Lines and borders 

b. Filling stitches 

c. Openwork 

d. Needlepoint    

 

 Border stitches  

These are the largest and most extensively used group of stitches. 

They include flat, looped and knotted techniques. They are used to 

create broad, decorative straight lines, frames and edgings. They 

can also be worked in straight or curved rows, singly as outlines or 

repeated to form a filling to cover a larger area. Some examples are 

Paris, fern, Bosnian, chevron, thorn etc. 

 

Composite border stitches 

They are the most decorative group of stitches and can be worked 

in single rows or repeated to produce multi-coloured fillings with 

intricate surface textures. It could be a combination of two or even 

three stitches and some of them could be created by embellishing 

the basic outline and border stitches with interlacing. Some 



Adaptation of Punch Needle Embroidery as an Added Surface … 

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examples of this type of stitches are Pekinese, laced buttonhole, 

interlaced band, magic chain, singalese chain etc. a blunt needle 

should be used to carry out this exercise and the fabric should be 

mounted in an embroidery frame so as not to misrepresent the 

stitches. 

 

Filling stitches 

Under filling stitches, there are powdered filling, isolated, open and 

solid filling stitches.  

 

Powdered filling and isolated stitches 

These stitches are worked singly and vary in size. The larger ones 

are usually for emphasis while the smaller ones are repeated to 

form a powdered filling. The stitches can be arranged in different 

ways to form a dense textured surface. Ganderton (1999) believes 

that a design often requires a powdered filling to be contained 

within an area which has been defined with an outline or border 

stitch. Some examples are as follows: arrowhead, straight, seeding, 

St. George cross, ermine, star etc. 

 

Open and solid filling stitches 

According to Ganderton (1999), open fillings do not cover the 

background completely, while solid fillings are dense and should 

be worked in a thick thread that covers the cloth completely. Some 

of them have developed as shading stitches using different closely 

related coloured threads. The constant repetitive usage of these 

stitches, can produce a slight three-dimensional effect, especially 

for flowers and foliage. The fabric to be utilized for this practical 

should be mounted in a frame for all the filling stitches.  Some 

examples of these stitches are damask darning, double darning, 

brick and cross filling, satin, surface satin, long and short, 

buttonhole filling etc. 

 

 



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Pulled fabric stitches 

These stitches are used to decorate household linen but their variety 

and elaborate patterns become more noticeable when coloured 

threads are used. They form all over designs which vary in their 

thicknesses. The fabric should be mounted in a frame but should 

not be stretched too taut so that the stitches can be worked evenly.  

Strong threads are recommended by Ganderton (1999) for this 

exercise to match the background fabric and also pull each stitch 

tightly to draw the fabric threads together. Some examples are 

window filling, three-sided, honeycomb filling, Russian filling, 

punch etc. 

 

Drawn threads and insertion stitches  

These stitches developed as a method of producing a decorative 

neatened edge on a piece of fabric. They are usually worked on 

even weave fabric from which various lines of threads have been 

pulled out.  The remaining threads are bunched together with 

tightly pulled stitches to form a regular pattern. Insertion stitches 

are also known as faggoting. They have developed from their old 

patterns of seams to a group of intricate stitches which can be 

utilized on plain or even weave fabric. The two edges being joined 

must be mounted on paper so that the stitches can be stitched 

evenly. Some examples of these stitches are single hem, serpentine 

hem, antique hem, Italian border, four-sided, chevron border, 

diamond border etc. 

 

Cutwork and edging stitches 

These kinds of stitches give a decorative finish to a hem and look 

exactly effective when worked in a thick twisted thread.  Ganderton 

(1999) advises that the stitches should be spaced repeatedly, and 

can be used on even weave or plain weave fabrics. They can be 

used to decorate collars, mats and garments; they could also be 

combined with satin stitch to create designs. These designs can be 

worked on with or without a frame. Some examples are Antwerp 



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edging, scalloped edge, sailor edge, looped edge, buttonhole eyelet, 

overcast eyelet etc. 

 

Straight needlepoint stitches 

This group of stitches includes stripes, zigzags, diamonds and other 

geometric patterns which be stitched horizontally or vertically so 

that the thread lies parallel to the grain of the canvas. These stitches 

can be worked without a frame but one must be careful and the 

thread, yarn or wool used must be thick enough to conceal the 

background completely. Some examples are upright Gobelin, 

Gobelin filling, Parisian, Hungarian, Hungarian diamond, single 

twill etc. 

 

Diagonal needlepoint stitches 

These stitches are worked at a slant across the thread intersections. 

This can distort the square weave of the canvas even when the 

fabric worked on is mounted on a frame. Therefore Ganderton 

(1999) advises that the finished piece should be stretched and 

blocked back into shape. Some of these stitches are done using 

single or double canvas. The thickness of the thread or yarn must 

be matched to the weight of the canvas to conceal the background 

completely. Some examples are half cross, basket weave tent, tent, 

gobeline, encroaching gobelin, canvas stem, Florence, cashmere, 

diagonal byzantine etc. 

 

Cross and star needlepoint stitches  

These stitches include all the stitches that are worked with a 

combination of horizontal, vertical and diagonal stitches. Cross 

stitches feature two or more straight stitches that cross over each 

other while the individual stitches that constitute the star stitches 

are discharged from a central point. Ganderton (1999) suggests that 

the heavier cross variations should be utilized on double canvas 

because they conceal better while other stitches should use single 

canvas. She also advises that the thread should be thick enough to 



Chika Chudi-Duru 

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cover the entire canvas and should all be worked in a frame. Some 

examples of these stitches are cross, diagonal cross, double cross, 

upright cross, diamond cross diagonal tweed, Smyrna cross etc.  

 

Looped and tied needlepoint stitches 

This group includes advanced stitches which can be used when 

unusual textures and multi- coloured are required.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Plate 4: Hand needle Designs 



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Looped rya and turkey stitches are used traditionally for rugs and 

are appropriate for stitching elevated areas in a design to achieve a 

luxurious finish when trimmed. The tied and twisted stitches 

consist of long straight stitches held down with shorter stitches to 

achieve a thick, ridged effect. The stitches in this section should be 

worked in a frame on a single canvas, ensuring that the thread and 

yarn used cover the entire background thread. Some examples are 

rya rug, turkey, houndstooth, knitting, old wheatsheaf, tied gobelin, 

French, pineapple arrow etc. 

 

Punch needle embroidery 

Punch needle embroidery is also known as needle punching, needle 

punch work, punch needle work, punch needle work, punch work 

or igolochky. This is a technique that uses a hollow needle that is 

threaded with a thread or fibre. When the needle is punched into 

the fabric, it leaves a little loop of thread on the other side. The 

loops are repeated to fill the design created. Bird (1981), defines a 

punch needle as a technique involving the punching and looping of 

a thread or ribbon in a particular design through a ground cloth. 

This group of loops are called piles. They can be of various sizes, 

looped or uncut. The special needle is thin, hollow and varies in 

length. The point of needle is pointed and very sharp. The thread 

goes down the length of the hollow needle and exits through an eye 

at the point.  

Harer (1972), finds out that the origin of punch needle 

embroidery is not clear. Some people trace its origin to ancient 

Egypt, while others cite medieval Europe – (Britain, Germany, and 

Russia) as its place of origin. According to Poskin (2017), the 

punch needle has been around for a very long time. She further 

mentions that ancient Egyptians used hollowed bones from birds’ 

wings as needles for the craft and it’s been used through the ages 

to depict a lot of things from floral scenes to portraits. However, 

this punch needle embroidery has been utilized by some artists to 

produce some works like landscapes, abstract designs, designs on 



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plain cloths, portraits etc. but this embroidery has not been utilized 

effectively to enhance African wax fabrics. Therefore, this study 

sought to address that issue by conducting an exploration of using 

punch needle embroidery on African wax fabrics to see if it will be 

appropriate as a surface an additional surface design on African 

wax fabrics just like machine embroidery.   

According to Steward (2009), to produce this work a fabric 

with a design drawn on the reverse is placed in a tensioning frame 

like an embroidery hoop.  With the help of an embroidery hoop, a 

series of loops are made on the surface of the fabric, using the 

fingers to hold the loops initially in place.  These series of loops 

give the design a carpet-like appearance and a soft texture 

depending on the type of thread used. As the needle is punched 

through the fabric, a gauge on the needle determines the length of 

the loop. There are varieties of punch needles but the differences 

are in the materials they are made from – plastic or metal handles 

and the ability to adjust the length of the loops which is responsible 

for the height of the finished design.  A threader is also needed and 

it is very important to place the fabric tight in a hoop or frame with 

an interlocking lip. The fabric usually utilized for this experiment 

is tightly woven quite unlike some other stitches. This enables the 

loops to be attached firmly to the fabric. The fabric is usually 65% 

polyester and 35% cotton. If there is a fabric that one is not so sure 

of, a fusible interfacing could be attached to the back using an iron. 

The punch needle makes use of a variety of threads. Any thread or 

fibre that can pass through the punch needle even a 2mm ribbon 

can be utilized.  

This study observed that since the design to be punched is 

not on a plain fabric, there is no need for tracing paper, pencils and 

a lightbox because the designs are already on African wax fabrics.  

The outlines are usually the first places to punch using the 

particular colour for that area before filling the inside. The stitches 

should be as close as possible ensuring that the background is fully 

covered. Once a mistake is made, it could be corrected by carefully 



Adaptation of Punch Needle Embroidery as an Added Surface … 

135 

 

and slowly pulling the stitches from the back. Once they have been 

removed the fingers are run over the fabric to put it back into place. 

Constant ripping can weaken the fabric.   

 

Studio Exploration 

The materials needed for the punch needle embroidery experiment 

are: 

a. Embroidery hoop 

b. Punch needle 

c. Threads or yarns of different sizes and colours 

d. A pair of scissors 

e. Punch needle threader 

f. African wax fabrics 

 

   

Plate 5: embroidery hoop Plate 6: punch 

needle 

Plate 7: acrylic yarn 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Chika Chudi-Duru 

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Step 1. Stretch the fabric  

The African wax fabrics was stretched in the embroidery hoop after 

attaching the fusible was interfacing at the wrong side of the fabric. 

Once the punching started, precaution was taken by making sure 

from time to time that the hoop was still holding the cloth tightly. 

 

 

Plate 9: stretching the fabric in 

the embroidery hoop. 

 



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137 

 

 

Step 2. Load the punch needle  

The punch needle was loaded by inserting the threader tool into the 

needle. The threader was inserted vertically through the top of the 

needle and sent down and out through the bottom of the tool.  The 

thin wires of the threader were pried open to run the embroidery 

floss through. The tab at the top of the threader was used to pull the 

needle back out through the top of the needle to enable the threader 

to come completely out of the punch needle tool. This brought out 

the embroidery floss up and out from the top of the needle.  After 

this initial step, the tip of the threader was inserted horizontally 

through the second hole in the tip of the needle. The floss was 

pulled further out through the first hole previously threaded and ran 

through the wires at the tip of the threader. The tab was pulled back 

out of the hole to complete this segment of threading the needle. 

 

 

Plate 10: threading the punch 

needle with the acrylic yarn. 

 

Step 3. Punching 



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The punching was started from the outlines of the designs before 

filling the inside. The thumb was to hold the tail in place as the first 

rows were punched. This study observed that the shorter the 

distances between the punches, the tighter the loops were. The first 

rows were not very straight but it was corrected by filling them in. 

When the designs were done, the areas that were not previously 

missed were filled in. In this studio exploration, the work was not 

done from the inside like on plain fabrics because of the interfacing 

at the back of the fabric. This interfacing was used to fortify the 

fabric. It was done side by side in a continuous line. As the work 

progressed, the big loops were trimmed so as not to catch them on 

something and unravel the work.  

 

  

Plate 11: punching exercise Plate 12: the finished work 

 

Conclusion   

Over the years till date, embroidery has been an essential part of 

Nigerian fashion. This has been used to display prestige and rank 



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139 

 

traditionally for men in some societies in Nigeria.  In Nigerian 

contemporary fashion to be precise, both men and women from 

different tribes and tongues wear clothes decorated with hand or 

machine embroidery as a surface design but the use of punch needle 

embroidery on clothes has not been sufficiently utilized in the 

Nigerian fashion scene. Also, its utilization of African wax fabrics 

has not been adequately showcased in Nigerian fashion. The 

experiment carried out on African wax fabrics using the punch 

needle technique proved that this technique is appropriate for 

further enhancement and produced good results. The clothing 

produced could be used for different occasions.  The utilization of 

this technique has given birth to a reduction of boredom emanating 

from the common machine and hand embroidery.   This study is of 

the view that the punch needle technique should be used to decorate 

some clothing made with African wax fabrics in contemporary 

fashion to create variety and also sold for economic purposes.  It 

strongly suggests that some people should be encouraged to 

acquire the skill of using this punch needle to embellish African 

wax fabric wears, practice it as a vocation and utilize it to earn a 

living. In line with the above, this technique of decorating a textile 

surface will be popularized and employed often in Nigerian 

contemporary fashion. 

 

 

REFERENCES  
Bird, G. (1981). Russian Punch Needle Embroidery. Mineola 

(NY): Dover Publications Inc. 

Ganderton, L. (1999). Stitch sampler, the ultimate visual 

dictionary to over 200 classic stitches. Dorling 

Kindersley Limited, 80 strands, London WC2R. 

Heathcote, D. (1979). The embroidery of Hausa Dress vol. 1, PhD 

dissertation, Department of Fine Arts, Ahmadu Bello 

University, Zaria. 



Chika Chudi-Duru 

140 

 

Haver, M.M. (1972). Big book of Quilting: hundreds of tips, 

tricks and techniques. Wisconsin: Krause. 

Ikande, M. (2018). Best Agbada Embroidery Designs. Retrieved 

from www.naija.ng/ 1147926-best-agbada-embroidery-

designs on 20-3-2018. 

Poskin, A. (2017). Punch needle Abstract Art: a modern twist on 

a not-so-modern craft. Retrieved From 

www.apartmenttherapy.co/how-to-make-modern-

abstrac-art-using-punch-needle-techniques-248815 on  

5-2-2018. 

Saidu, A. (2013). A historical survey of handmade cloth 

embroidery in Daura Local Government Area, Katsina 

State. A Thesis submitted to the School of Postgraduate 

Studies, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. Nigeria. 

Steward, M. (2009). Punch Needle, the complete Guide, 

Cincinnati, Ohio. Krause Publications. 

Uduma,K. (2012).Nigeria fashion: through the years. Retrieved 

from www.africanheritage.wordpress.com/ 

2007/01/12/nigerian-fashion on 7-10-2018. 

  


