Punch Needle Pusheen by Kyler

Summer break is just around the corner, and May is right about the time where I start to think about just what will my kids be doing all day. Lucky for me (and my kids!) I have no shortage of creative friends with creative talents and who are generous with their knowledge. Over the last few months, I’ve been watching Colleen Molen punch needle the coolest designs. I reached out to her to find out if it was something my 10 year old would be able to do. And she said yes! She recommended an Oxford Punch Needle, size 10 and monk’s cloth from her friend Christie of Punch! Christie actually also sells kits with everything you need to get started.

I ordered the punch needle, the monk’s cloth, grabbed a q-snap frame we already had, and some yarn. My son is a huge Pusheen the cat lover, and we decided to trace a Pusheen image onto the monk’s cloth with a sharpie and a light box (a window would have worked too). We didn’t even make it out of the back corner of the sewing room before he wanted to get started!

Within an hour, my 10 year old was able to to fully punch needle on his own with no assistance. Start, stop, correct mistakes, thread the punch needle, and switch colors. It was amazing!! He was pretty obsessed - punch needling before school, after school, during evening “quiet time” where we chill before bed. He said it helped calm him down when he got overly excited or anxious about his day.

I think it’s a great craft for kids (and adults!) because you can see progress pretty much immediately. For my son, that keeps him motivated. Obviously, I’m not a punch needle expert but I think traditionally the back becomes the front, but he liked the look of the side he was working on. So that became the front!

There’s a lot of videos on YouTube for getting started. The Oxford Punch Needle has an official channel. Creativebug has a great video/class on YouTube as well, with Arounna Khounnoraj from Bookhou who happens to have a punch needle book coming out later this month.

My son was super proud of the finished product. We whipped it up into a little pillow and it is now happily on his bed.

He has already had me trace and frame up his next project - Yoshi! Stay tuned for his next masterpiece…and maybe eventually I will get a turn for a project as well. :-)