The finished project is 2.5" wide. When I first printed it on my printer, it was 4" wide. I divided 2.5 by 4 to get approx. 65% and shrunk the image on my printer to print out the right size (top image).
I dug some Monaco cloth out of my stash, I used my iPhone like a light box and traced the pattern onto the fabric with a pencil, then over the pencil with a fine point permanent marker. The image is reversed as the needle punching is done from the back. I then found appropriate colour floss, substituting 815 for the 3777. It really stitched up quickly and I got it all done last night.
I then covered the back in white glue and sandwiched it face down between two pieces of waxed paper and covered it with a couple of books to hopefully have it dry flat.
This morning, I removed the books and peeled the waxed paper off the back to let it finish drying. This evening, I snipped away the fabric (now set with the glue) and will back it with black felt before putting a pin on it for wearing.
A white edging was suggested by the designer and I would definitely try that next time as it would make the snipped fabric edge disappear. With the black edging, I'm thinking of making it disappear by painting it black.
I've been scouring Pinterest and other pages for ideas and techniques. As the punching is done with three plies of floss, it is easy to blend colours. I can also use #12 perle cotton in the needle I have.
I haven't tried 6 plies in my needle yet. There are sets that can be obtained commercially but I'm going to wait until I'm in the US to order one as the shipping is much cheaper domestically.
On another website, a stitcher dipped her floss skeins part way into walnut dye to darken them a bit, set them to dry, and created tonal floss. What a fast and easy way to customize one's flosses!
I'm also intrigued with rug punching as it's basically a bigger needle punching into monk's cloth with yarn. However, the punch I've been looking at is about $50 so it's not quite on my docket yet.
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