Punch Needle Keychain Tutorial (No Sewing)
This tutorial shows how to make small punch needle keychains without any sewing. It covers stretching cotton fabric on an embroidery hoop, threading a punch needle tool, punching out a design, and securing the finished piece to felt backing with fabric glue.
You’ll need9
Steps13 steps
- 1
Mount the cotton fabric into the embroidery hoop and tighten the screw hardware until the fabric is taut.
- 2
Insert the wire threader into the punch needle tip until the wire loop emerges from the bottom end of the handle.
- 3
Pass the yarn end through the wire loop at the base of the needle handle.
- 4
Pull the threader out from the needle tip so the yarn runs through the barrel.
- 5
Thread the yarn through the eyelet hole near the tip of the needle using the wire threader.
- 6
Test punch stitches along the edge of the fabric to verify loop formation and thread behavior.
- 7
Punch the needle through the fabric along the marked outline to create the design.
- 8
Turn to the back side, pull the finishing tail through, and trim the excess yarn.
- 9
Loosen the hoop clamp screw and take the fabric out of the hoop.
- 10
Cut around the embroidered design leaving a border of plain fabric.
- 11
Apply fabric glue generously across the looped back of the design.
- 12
Press the glued fabric onto a piece of felt backing.
- 13
Trim away excess felt and border fabric to neaten the edges of the finished keychain.
Tips
Preparation and Setup
Secure cotton fabric tightly into an embroidery hoop to create adequate tension for the punch needle. Thread the punch needle tool with yarn using the wire threader that accompanies the tool, pulling the yarn through the handle and out through the eye of the needle.
Punch Needle Stitching
Before beginning the main piece, perform test stitches on an edge of the fabric to verify proper thread tension and loop formation. Follow the traced outline on the fabric, punching the needle straight down into the fabric and bringing it back up closely along the line.
Finishing and Assembling the Keychain
Once stitching is complete, trim excess yarn tails and loosen the hoop to remove the fabric. Cut around the embroidered shape, coat the loop side with fabric glue, adhere it to felt, and trim the excess edges. Finished examples have ribbon loops, but their attachment is not fully demonstrated.