Granny's Box : The Story of Mollie Franklin Hensley (by Sandy Laws)

Prick and Pounce

Prick and pounce is a method of transferring a pattern to a surface using a wheel, pad, and powder. 

The pounce perforation tool has a sharp steel pointed wheel on the end of a tapered handle.

















Pounce is a fine powder that was originally made from cuttlefish, but today is made from charcoal and chalk powder.











The design to be transferred may be a commercial pattern or traced onto paper, which is secured in place onto the target surface.  The wheel is pressed into the drawn outline to perforate the paper.  A square pounce pad, or a handheld blotter, may be used to rub or blot the powder over the holes in the paper.  When the paper is lifted, the design will be transferred to the material.

Granny’s box contained two prick and pounce pattern sheets which were about 36 inches wide and 12 inches long.  Some of the designs have residual pounce powder.  It is quite difficult to see the actual patterns in a photograph.  Some of the pattern images have been enhanced and enlarged for a better visual.




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