As promised, today I’m sharing how to make pom poms without buying a tool like the Clover tool I shared last week. All you need is some cardboard, the thicker the better. If you only have a cereal box or thin cardboard like that, then cut about four of the tool shape out and glue them together for added strength. Oh and before I start, I wanted to say I’m so giddy thanks to all of you that are joined the Pinterest board and tagged your weaves with #TWLtutorial on Instagram (if you missed it, see this post here). I’m already seeing the amazing things you’re making and maybe I’ll see some pom poms too! For those of your that aren’t on those two platforms, I’m trying to think of how you can share too, hopefully a good idea will come to me soon.
Making the tool
step 1| I traced my tool out using a glass for the outer arch and a small scoop for the inner arch, but you can freehand the arch if you want because a perfect arch is not necessary. Something to consider when making your tool is what size of pom poms do you want to make? If you want it to be larger then make the outer arch larger. Also, make note that the space between the outer arch and the inner arch will determine the length of your pom pom fringe. I made my tool have a space of an inch between the arches and my finished pom poms came out to about 2.5 inches in diameter.
step 2| after you have your arches drawn on your cardboard, cut out the outer arch and cut out the inner arch so that you end up with a shape like a ‘C’. I then cut a small notch on each side of the opening to hold my tie off yarn, you’ll see in the next step below.
Making your Pom Pom
step 1| take a piece of thread that you will use as your tie off yarn and lay it around the inner arch, then pull the ends into each of the notches you just cut. This will help hold your tie off yarn as you wrap your tool.
step 2| starting with the yarn end pointing up towards the outer arch (this is where we’ll be cutting the pom pom edge), wrap your yarn around the tool loosely. You’ll want to wrap it loosely so that you have some slack to fit your scissors under the thread to cut it later.
step 3| keep wrapping your yarn loosely, keeping the yarn within the top of the inner arch. You don’t want to go down the sides of the tool because this will make for a loose pom pom when you try to tie it off. Wrap as much as you want the pom pom to be thick. The more yarn wrapped, the thicker the pom pom will be.
step 4| once you’re satisfied with your wrapping, end with your yarn tail pointing towards the outer circle.
step 5| un-hook your tie off yarn from the notches and tie those in a loose single knot, this will help hold your yarn as you cut it off the tool.
step 6| while holding the yarn in place at the inner arch, cut the yarn at the outer arch.
step 7| once all the yarn is cut tie the tie off yarn and remove the pom pom from your tool. Then pull the tie off yarn really tight and double knot it.
step 8| you’ll be left with two end tails on your pom pom, which will be used to attach your pom pom to your weave.
Attaching a Pom Pom to a Weave
I forgot to take pictures as I did this (duh!), but hopefully these pictures I took after the fact are helpful.
step 1| figure out where you want the pom pom to go on your weave. Then using the end tails of the pom pom, pull one through your weave front to the back on the left side of a warp thread. Next pull the other end tail through the front of the weave to the back on the right side of the warp thread.
step 2| double knot the two end tails of the pom pom in the back of the weave. This will secure them to that warp thread.
step 3| if your pom pom is heavy and droops after you tie it, then cut another piece of thread to secure it. For this I used a warp thread and looped it through the pom pom’s tie off thread towards the top of the pom, where I needed it more secure. I then took the two ends of this string and pull them from the front of the weave to the back and double knotted them around a warp thread in the back.
And if you like this post, you HAVE to check out my post on making pom poms using your yarn scraps!
I really like how the pom poms turned out and they add a bit of fun to a weave. Any weaving plans for the weekend? Who’s going to make pom poms?
Happy Weaving!
Kate
Have you tried weaving with fabric before? I have been wanting to for a while now, it adds a nice texture to weaves that is very different. I tried a few different techniques when weaving with my piece of fabric and I have a lot more to explore, but for today I’m sharing 3 techniques that I tried.
