Pom Poms are an essential component to all craft closets. They are extremely versatile. Pom Poms are a bunny rabbit’s tail, the buttons on a teddy bear’s jacket and the cutest part of a crocheted ear flap hat. If you have an imagination- a Pom Pom can be nearly anything!
I was recently looking for a Valentine’s Day wreath idea on Pinterest and found one using pom poms- probably 100 pom poms! I knew if I wanted to make the wreath I would need an easy way to make pom poms myself.
I tried several methods, all of which I will explain to you further in the post. For now, let me show you my preferred way from The Intentional Momma:
Easy Way to Make Pom Poms
You will Need:
- Yarn
- Scissors
- Your Hands
Wrap the yarn around your hand. For larger pom poms you can use 4 fingers and smaller pom poms can be made using 3 fingers. Depending on how dense you want the pom pom, you can wrap your hand as many times as you want. In this tutorial I made a small pom pom wrapping 80 times.
Pull the yarn off your fingers while keeping the cylinder shape.
Using a separate piece of yarn, around 8 inches long, you need to tie a knot around the middle of the yarn bunch. Wrap it so that you have loops on each side. Tie the string as tight as you can without breaking it. This is what will hold the pom pom together.
Using a pair of scissors, cut the loops on each side.
The Pom Pom is beginning to take form! But it looks like a mop head right now!
Trim the pom pom to the size you want, the shorter you go the more dense the pom pom will appear. As you can see- you may end up cutting more off than you are left with!
To get that cute fuzzy look- roll the pom pom around in the center of your hand. It will also shape it and allow you to see any strays that need trimmed down a bit more.
Other Pom Pom Methods
I found many Pom Pom tutorial through Pinterest.
The Fork Pom Pom Method
I tried the Fork Pom Pom method and found it is really only good if you are using very thin string, like twine. The Fork Pom Pom method will give you a super cute, small pom pom but is difficult to manage.
The fork method requires you to wrap a fork with your string 30-50 times. Then tie a knot the same way we did above to hold the pom together only you can use the fork to assist. Then, you must have a thin pair of scissor available to fit into the loops and trim.
Trying this with yarn gave me a pom pom that looked more like an hour glass and it easily fell apart.
The Pom Pom Tools
There are also many tools online that assist with making Pom Poms.
I have no interest in buying one because I found a better way anyhow.
Wrap Around Anything Else
Basically the same thing as I did above, only instead of wrapping around your hand you can wrap around any other item. My sister from Stitch11, makes Pom Poms all the time for her Crocheted Hats. This is the method she uses, wrapping around a box of crayons. This method definitely works just fine. I just prefer using the tools I have on hand..I mean…my hands.
Easy Pom Pom Tutorial Verdict
After trying several other ways I was relieved by this method. Its just so much easier to wrap around your hand than trying to manage something else. However, I am still not sure how to keep the pom pom really secure. If you pull the strings they will just pull right out and the next thing you know the pom pom is falling apart!
I would definitely use these pom poms for any kind of craft that would require me to tie or glue them down. It doesn’t take too long, unless you have OCD and you have to be sure to get every string the same length!
I also love that I can make them whatever size I want by controlling the number of times I wrap it and how much I trim.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
To make your pom poms secure, use yarn thread instead of regular yarn to tie the pom pom in the middle… and for attaching the pom pom to your crafty item
Thanks Corina!