Whistle and Ivy

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How to Make a Pom-Pom (And Attach it!)

by 43 Comments

Happy Fall! I’m not sure why I never thought about posting this how to make a pom-pom tutorial before. I’ve recently had several readers leave comments wondering how to make a pom-pom, which are the perfect finishing touch for crochet hats and scarves. Although I have a Clover pom-pom maker, and I find it’s a very useful tool, it’s not necessary to make a pretty one! This tutorial will show you how to make a pom pom and almost as important: how to attach a pom-pom to your finished project. 

Hand making a pom-pom with yarn

 

I do use my pom-pom maker, but you really don’t need to make yarn pom-poms. In fact, I have a yarn pom-pom maker and I prefer this method for large, or very small-sized pom-poms. It’s very useful to know, so grab a skein of yarn, some scissors and lets start making pom-poms! 

 

HOW TO MAKE A YARN POM-POM (AND ATTACH IT!) 

What you need: 
– Yarn scraps
– Scissors
– Sharp Darning Needle  

STEP ONE:

Start with your preferred color of yarn.  Take the end and snip a 12″-24″ length and set it aside.
Start wrapping the yarn from the the ball around your fingers. 3 or 4 fingers makes a regular, adult-sized pom-pom for a hat, but you can make a few and decided which size you like. 

 

hand wrapped in yarn

Wrap it many times. In fact, wrap it more times than you think you need to. You want your pom-pom to be nice and full and it requires more yarn than you realize. 

Keep in mind, the bigger you want your pom-pom, the more times you need to wrap it. When you leave the yarn long on the pom-pom, it spreads out more, making it look less full. So if you are using the widest part of your hand, keep wrapping! 

 

STEP TWO:

Once your pom-pom is as full as you need it, pull it off your fingers, holding it firm so you don’t loose any loops. 

 

 

STEP THREE: 

Take the yarn you cut previously, and tie it around the middle. You might need a second pair of hands here as you tie the knot because it’s very important that it’s tied as tight as possible. If it’s loose at all, the yarn pom-pom will easily come apart. 

Tied wrapped yarn making a pom-pom

 

STEP FOUR: 

Once the knot is tied, cut all the loops. The yarn will fall into a haggard, overgrown pom-pom shape. 

cut yarn pom-pom ball

 

STEP FIVE: 

Finish your pom-pom by giving it a nice, round haircut. Don’t get carried away! It’s easy to go crazy and cut a side too short. This part takes practice, once you make 2-3, you will get the hang of it. (For easier clean-up, you can do this part right over the garbage can.)
Make sure you leave the two ends of your tie piece long. 

yarn pom-pom with string attached

HOW TO ATTACH A POM-POM 

It took me a while to figure out how to attach them, and I wish I would have found a good tutorial when I was starting out. I really hate loose and floppy pom-poms. Arg!

A floppy, unsecured pom-pom happens when you simply use the two ends to sew it to your crochet piece. 
To attach a pom-pom more securely, use a yarn needle and one of the attached ends of the pom-pom, push the needle through the top of the hat. This hat is gathered at the top, so I am working around the gathering. 

Darning needle sewing a pom-pom to the top of a hat

Then, push the need up through the hat.

Darning needle sewing a pom-pom to the top of a hat

Then, take your needle up through the bottom of the pom-pom, right up the middle. 

darning needle sewing on a yarn pom-pom

Next, go down through the middle of the pom-pom, and again down the hat. You will work in a circular sewing pattern around the top of the hat, but will always go straight up and down through the middle of the pom-pom. 

darning needle sewing on a yarn pom-pom

 

Once you have sewn a circle around the top of the hat, (6 or 7 stitches) pull both ends of the yarn through to the inside of the hat and tie a sturdy knot on the inside of the hat (or underside of your project). 

 

hand holding two strands of yarn

This will keep those beautiful pom-poms in place!

And check out my tutorial for DIY Fur Pom-Poms, you can make those yourself too! And once you learn how, you will wonder why you haven’t been doing this the whole time! 

pom-poms made of faux fur

 

 

Want a hat to put these pom-poms on? Try these: 


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xoxo,

 

 

 


 

 

 

Comments

  2. Kathy Brewer says

    Thank you so much!!! I have never found a good way to attach a Pom to a hat (or anything, really…). Now I have a GREAT way!!

    Thanks for sharing.

    Reply

  3. Lana says

    Thank you so much for this tutorial! I have been struggling to make pom poms for my hats and struggling even more at attaching them so this really helped. I made hats for my friends and they love, love, loved the pom poms!

    Reply

  6. Kristin says

    Hi just curious would this work with a pillow to stitch it on for a small design? And if so do you pull through both strings and stitch them both in a circle or do u just stitch one in a circle n the other you pull through when your done to tie it up? Thanks 🙂

    Reply

    • Bethany says

      Yes, I would attach them the same way you would a hat. You could tie them simply with the two strings, but it depends on whether you want them to be firmly attached or a bit loose. Stitching them in a circle would make them very firmly attached.

      Reply

  7. Becky says

    I started making tobbogans with knitting looms, and wanted to add pompoms to some, but had no clue about the best way to make one. Your tutorial was the first one I found when searching Google, and the one I’ll use as it seems so simple. Both the making and attaching. Thanks so much for instructions anyone can understand.

    Reply

  8. Trudy Mintun says

    I love the hat, but I especially love your method for making pom-poms. I have a pom pom maker but always struggle with it. I just made one with your method, and will pitch the makers into a junk drawer. Thank you so much!

    Reply

  9. Lea Diaz says

    Bethany, thanks for making this hat available. We live in South Florida and this grandson will visit Chicago early December. After many hours of searching, we found your hat and loved it.
    The baby will be warm and happy. He loved trying it on today. You rock.

    Reply

  10. Janet Aldrich says

    How many fingers would you use for a pompom for a child’s hat (1-6 years)? And what if you wanted to use more than one color? Thanks for any help (and sorry about the questions!)

    Reply

  11. Erin says

    Hi, I was wondering… can homemade pompoms go into the wash or will they totally fall apart? Thanks ever so much for any assistance / thoughts on how to go about ensuring lack of destruction!

    Reply

  14. Kathryn Horn says

    I loved the ease of paying $1.25 to paypal for a pdf pattern from you. I get so tired of trying to edit out some of the ads so I can get more pattern on a page. I’ve spent hundreds of dollars on pages for patterns that I ended up throwing away because when I cut out what I needed, I had more trash than pattern!

    I’ll certainly do this again. Thanks for the great pattern. I crochet all the time and yet, I love having a pattern to refer to.
    Katy Horn

    Reply

  18. Kerri Stinson says

    Thank you for this tutorial!! I have struggled with attaching the pom pom and you made it so easy. Now to hone my shaping skills….

    Reply

  21. Dee says

    Thanks for the pompom instructions. I have a PPmaker too, but this sounds so much easier and the sewing on, great, avoids the ever floppy PP.
    D

    Reply

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