How to Make a Yarn Pom Pom
I’ve always had a fascination with these tiny balls of fluff known as yarn pom poms. Whether strung in a garland or used as a party decoration, I love yarn pom poms. One of my goals this year was to learn how to make a yarn pom pom. I started by reading a large number of blog posts and then experimented with different techniques. Unfortunately, I never felt I quite mastered making one. Either the yarn became stuck during wrapping, the entire ball fell apart when I started cutting or it just looked like a loose ball of fringe at the end, I was beginning to wonder how hard making these cute tiny balls could be. Maybe you really needed some special art degree to create them.
Then, I found this tutorial from Design Mom on how to make pom pom bookmarks. In their wrapping technique, all they used were their fingers. No purchased wrapping tools, cut out cardboard shapes or other strange paper circles. Just you’re fingers, some yarn and a pair of scissors. After trying the technique once, I realized that I had just uncovered the secret to yarn pom pom bliss.
You Will Need
A set of fingers
Yarn
Scissors
1. Cut a 10 to 12 inch piece of yarn. This piece will be used to tie around the center of your pom pom after it’s wrapped.
2. Wrap the yarn 100 times (I found this makes the ball nice and fluffy) around your four fingers. If you want a smaller and tighter ball, use fewer fingers.
3. Carefully slide the wrapped yarn off of your fingers.
Tie the piece of yarn tightly around the middle of the bundle, making a knot.
4. Snip apart the looped yarn pieces, starting with the outer ones and working your way towards the inside of the pom pom. Trim the tied pieces of yarn as well as any excess pieces that are longer. Through your trimming, you can make a fluffier pom pom or a tighter yarn ball.
It’s that simple. The best part about the finger wrapping technique is that it’s successful every time. I made over a dozen yarn pom poms for an upcoming project with this technique and always created the “perfect” pom pom. Unfortunately, I fear I might have a bit of an obsession with these balls of fluff (similar to my ribbon wreath obsession from fifth grade). Oh well – now I just need to figure out what to do with all of these pom poms. Oh, the decorating and entertaining possibilities…
Happy Celebrating,
Natalie
