I have always made pom poms out of yarn, my little ladies have always made pom poms out of yarn, but last week my sister Robin challenged us to try making pom poms out of fabric. HMPH! Annoyed a little with myself for not thinking of this myself, we tried. So using some old clothing that both little ladies have out-grown, we started cutting long strips out of every fabric we could get our hands on.
We made pom poms from thin, airy cotton skirts-
Old flannel pajamas and I even tea stained some cotton bias tape to make some pom poms-
And a favorite cotton dress was made into a pom pom-
In case you are forgetting how easy it is to make pom poms, here are the instructions for a little reminder.
You need:
long strips of fabric
cardboard
string or yarn
small sharp scissors
To do:
1. I used 6 30″ strips and 6 20″ strips; they are about 3/4 of an inch in width. The length really depends on where you are getting the fabric from; just be sure to cut them so they are manageable to put through the cardboard circles. The amount of fabric really depends on your preference on the size of the pom pom as well. You may not want to make the pom pom as thick as mine or you might want it to be thicker; experiment a bit.
2. Cut your circles from the cardboard; mine are 2 1/2 inch circles with a 1 1/2 inch circle cut from the center.
3. Put the circles on top of each other and start wrapping the cloth strips around the circles. When you reach the end of a strip be sure it is facing the outside of the circle, it will become part of the pom pom. Take notice where the end of the cloth strip is facing in the photo below-
4. Keep wrapping until the center is about 2/3 full. The smaller the inner circle, the thicker the pom pom.
5. Now for the hardest part, cutting through the many layers of fabric until you reach the cardboard circles. Small sharp scissors work the best for this step.
6. After cutting all the way around the the circle, place your twine (string or yarn) between the two cardboard circles and tie a few tight knots.
7. Remove the cardboard circles (I have to cut mine off) and fluff up your pom pom. Then add it to a package or make a pom pom tree like the little ladies and I have done.
Enjoy!
About
Amazing! 5OP my savior!!! I’m from Nairobi, Kenya. I was browsing through docor ideas and came across ’tissue’ pom poms which I liked but was abit unsure about them considering I would use them only for a short while during my event decor work… I tried looking up ‘fabric pom pom’ and wow!! I read through your procedure a while ago and am really gratified. I have just completed a lilac fine-knit fabric pom, which looks fabulous considering it was just a try-out. I have a line of events this month, I was getting sick of the cliche decor style in my city but this right here will help me stand out. I’m dying to try it out on glittered net fabric before I go to bed. I will update you on how it turns out!! ASANTE SANA! (Thank you)
AWESOME…I am making a hat I think these will look great on it.
THAK-YOU.
Those are really neat….thanks for the tutorial!
Oh these are lovely. I adore fabric pom poms. We’ve had so much fun making these in the past and yes they are a great way of using up special bits of fabric!
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Very, very pretty! Such a smart way to recycle clothing that cannot be given away and are too lovely (or once was) to be used as rags. Love the cozy, sweet pom pom tree. As always, thank you for the inspiration!
this is gonna be hit here with the girls! thanks for the idea!!!
What a great idea! We’ve made them many times from yarn, but it never occurred to me to use fabric.
sweet! i recognize some of your fabric, but i am not sure where from…
nicola
http://whichname.blogspot.com
Thank you so much for this idea! The next time I borrow my friend’s eight year old daughter, she and I will be all over this one!
My daughter is doing these right now! Thanks! Is that a Trader Joes Almond Cluster cereal box? My favorite cereal.
HA! It sure is the clutster cereal. So good and it’s Araina’s favorite too!
Those are great!!! <3 them ~Shona
What a brilliant idea! I’m definately going to make some of these this week!!
I love the tea stained one the best….I might try making some from different garden sourced dyes….Thanks for sharing
Love plant dyeing!
ack!! these are adorable!!! i can just envision the future of my and my childrens clothing
They are lovely! My favourite one is the last one (pink one), but they look great all together! thanks for the tutorial
Your fabric pom-poms are very cute. They look great hanging in the window.
Those are cool!
AND….You were one of the wInNeRs in my giveaway!!!! So, think it over and let me know what you want! Drop me a comment on my blog with your email addy, and I will contact you! (I won’t publish it for the world…or the 13 people who read my blog!!!
)
~Karen
Woo Hoo!!!!!
These are great Lisa. They look so lovely hanging in front of that window – Just what we need to brighten up this dark dull days.
These are just as cute as they can be. Thanks!
What a great tutorial Lisa! I really like the idea of using the kids old cothing that I just love too much to give away. These are so cute, and this will be a project in our near future
I hold on to way too many sentimental clothing, it’s crazy! Love finding ways to incorporate them into our craftiness.
These are so cool! I have never made pom poms before. Now I feel like I have to, I just can’t figure out what I should do with them. Maybe decorate a banner? How ever they are used it would be a great way to use fabric scraps! Thank you for sharing!
Amanda
Those are so cute! I think I’ll get some of that Christmas fabric at 50 percent off and make some sort of large ones into Christmas ornaments…
so, so cute big sis!
I love those! What a great idea your sister– HMPH!
— had!
thanks for the tutorial
very sweet. I have some failing apart flannels I’ve been wondering what to do with. This is a neat idea but then I’m not sure what I’d “do” with the pom-pom either!
Lisa, your creativity amazes me everyday! Looooooove them! I am going to make a trilion!lol
These are divine! I love them!
Warmly
Linda
Love love love them! I have a huge stash of fabric scraps that I’ve been aiming to use up this year – now I know what I can do with some of them. I love this idea, thank you.
These are the most beautiful pom-poms I have even seen!!!
What a fabulous idea. I make them out of yarn all the time, but I’d never thought to use fabric. Sounds like a great activity that the little ones could help me with. Saving this for a rainy day. Thank you.
At the beginning, I thought… Oh, they’re beautiful decorations!! And then I got to that last picture, and totally melted. Love, love, love it.
This is very cool! thanks for the idea!
Suzy
Sadly I have to admit I’ve never made a pom pom on any type. But I’m thinking my little M might just love this. Thanks!
Very cute idea! We’ll have to try that.
What a great idea! I love it and will definitely try this one for package decorations, etc.
pretty…love this idea! What a neat idea for ornaments too…a way to remember the little ladies when they were little, sniffle.
These are great. I saw an idea on a card at Hobby Lobby that showed how you could make “hydrangeas” and “carnations” out of fabric pom poms. I bet you could master that too.