Hello Tuftinglovers, you have been asking us for punch needle again and again, so we have added all the products you need to our range. Punch needling is great if you want to combine it with tufting, or if you just want to work comfortably on the sofa without having to unpack the tufting machine. So today we are punching a seat cushion for a stool with a punch needle. With this tutorial, you can easily recreate this seat cushion at home, or get inspired for other projects with punch needle. All the products you need for punch needling your seat cushion can also be found in our online shop.

In this blog, we'll go over the following points for making a seat cushion with punch needling:

• What material do I need for a punch needle seat cushion?
• Tutorial for a punch needle seat cushion

What material do I need for a punch needle seat cushion?

The punch needle frame

To stretch the fabric when punch needling, we need a frame. The punch needle frame, similar to a tufting frame, has small nail strips along the edge. They look like little hedgehogs and keep the fabric nicely stretched. In addition to the frame, I also have a fabric protector so that nothing gets stuck on the nails during transport or fiddling around and you don't accidentally hurt yourself. However, once I have stretched the fabric on the frame, I no longer need the fabric protector because the monk fabric completely covers the nails.

The small nails on the PunchNeedle frame look like a hedgehog.

The monk fabric

The fabric we use for punch needling is called monk cloth. You can buy it by the metre from our Tuftinglove online shop and decide for yourself how big your punch needle project should be. Remember to allow the fabric to extend a little on all sides of the frame, so you will need a little more fabric than just the size of your frame.

The punch needle

I am using my favourite punch needle today, the Oxford punch needle in size 9, so that we get a nice high, fluffy pile for our seat cushion. This punch needle has a yarn guide and is very easy to thread, which makes punch needling super easy. Thanks to its size, we can use fluffy yarn, which is of course beneficial for our seat cushion, because we want to sit comfortably.

The yarn for punch needling

For the design of the seat cushion, I use two different yarns in a total of four colours. I use the Creative Twist Super Chunky in the colours Bordeaux-Red and Brown-Beige, because this yarn has a very beautiful structure. The second yarn is the Essentials Mega Wool Chunky in white and light blue with a rather smooth surface structure.

With this material, you can start punch needling right away.

The adhesive for punch needling

When we are finished punch needling, we have to glue the back of the rug so that everything holds together well. For this, I use the same carpet adhesive that we also offer for our tufting carpets, as I have a large quantity of it available. In principle, however, the two adhesives are no different and you can also use the punch needle adhesive from our shop for this.

Instructions for a punch needle seat cushion

We start by stretching the monk fabric over the punch needle frame. I make sure that the fabric extends slightly beyond the frame. The small nails on the frame hold the fabric well and do not go all the way through the monk fabric. That's why I leave the protective cover off here. I first tighten the fabric at the top and bottom and then on the left and right. In between, I keep smoothing the monk fabric.

Next, I draw the design on the fabric. To do this, I place the seat of the stool on the fabric and draw around it with a marker. Then I draw a border of 2.5cm around the seat. The seat is 2cm thick and I need another 5mm to attach the cushion to the bottom of the stool.

Thanks to the additional border, the seat cushion will later also cover the side of the stool.

Since this is the first time I've punched a seat cushion, I'll just draw some organic shapes. But of course you are completely free to choose your own motif. You just have to make sure that you also work from the back when punching with the needle, just like when tufting. Your motif will be mirror-inverted afterwards. You can simply draw the whole thing with your black felt-tip pen. This will no longer be visible at the end because there will be yarn over it everywhere.

The cool thing about the Oxford Punch Needle is that you don't need a threader. It has a long slot, which means that we just have to push the yarn through the hole at the top and then we can pull it into the slot and we're ready to go. After we have threaded the yarn, we always hold the punch needle so that the slot of the Oxford punch needle is at the top. We then insert the punch needle at a slight angle into the monk fabric and push it down as far as it will go, then pull it out again.

When piercing, hold the punch needle at a slight angle.

We repeat this constantly and with the distance between the individual stitches, we can vary the density of the fabric. While you are working, you can of course also turn the frame to make sure you can reach all the places easily and to make progress. On the back, you can now see how your seat cushion is being created. When you have finished one part, you can simply cut the thread with scissors and start with the next part or change the colour.

I start with the white wool and make the small dots first. The principle of punch needling is the same as for tufting. I start with the small shapes and make the edges of the shapes first, then fill them in. By making the edge of the shape first, you will have a good demarcation between the shapes afterwards. 

If you outline the shapes first, you will get a better definition afterwards.

For the Punch Needle seat cushion, I make all the colours the same height so that I can sit comfortably on them later and so that everything is evenly fluffy. But you can also vary the length of the needle to create a certain 3D look.

When you fill the shapes, you can either set the stitches along the shape or fill them with straight lines. If you make straight lines, you will progress faster because the needle will go through the fabric more easily. However, the fabric will look slightly different, as you can see here:

You can see that the red fabric has been punched in straight lines.

Now that our motif is completely punched, I glue the back and let the glue dry until the next day. Then I cut the punch needle seat cushion out of the fabric, leaving a small margin of two to three centimetres. When I place the seat cushion on the stool, I can staple the overhanging edge to the underside of the stool to secure the cushion in place.

I use the tacker to attach the Punch Needle seat cushion to the stool.

And with that, you now have complete instructions for making a punch needle seat cushion! I love it and my stool is much more comfortable. You can find all the materials for punch needling or if you want to do something with tufting in our online shop. If you have any questions, you can always contact me using the contact form on our website or here in the comments below this blog.

I wish you a fluffy day
Jenni