Learn how to use a pom pom maker for your next knitting, crochet, fiber or craft project with this easy step by step tutorial!
Pom Pom’s are like the sprinkles on a cake of knitting. Especially when you knit primarily hats like we do here at Little Red Window. So we make a lot of pom poms. So many pom poms.
We already have a fantastic tutorial for making pom poms with no special tools other than your own fingers, but pom pom makers are another option for making the best pom poms.
Why should I use a pom pom maker?
- Using a pom pom maker is usually faster and easier than other methods including cardboard, your fingers or a fork.
- Using a pom pom maker will result in the most uniformly sized and shaped pom poms compared to other pom pom making methods.
How To Use a Pom Pom Maker
- Before you start making your pom pom, cut a length of yarn about 18 inches long to use for the center tie of your pom pom. It is MUCH easier to do this before you start.
- Look at your pom pom maker, it is made up of a central circular part connected with a peg in the middle and two sets of arch pieces on either side of the circle that open and close.
- Starting with the pom pom maker closed, open one set of arches, it does not matter which side you start with.
- Being winding yarn around the arches from left to right and back again, keeping the yarn straight and evenly wound.
- Keep winding until the arches are filled almost all the way straight across the bottom.
- Close this half of the pom pom maker and open the arches on the other side.
- Repeat winding yarn around the other set of arches.
- Close the second half of the pom pom maker.
- Using the sharpest scissors you can find, and keeping the pom pom maker closed, cut along one edge of one half the pom pom between the gap between the arches, all the way through all of the wrapped layers of yarn.
- Still keeping the pom pom maker closed, repeat cutting the other half of the pom pom.
- Using the piece of yarn you set aside at the beginning, wrap it around the circumference of the pom pom maker in the gap between the arches where you just cut. Pull as tightly as you can and double knot.
- Open the arches on both sides of the pom pom maker again. This may take a little gentle pulling.
- When the arches are open, separate by the two halves of the pom pom maker that are still connected at the center of the circles, by pulling them apart gently. This will release the entire pom pom from the pom pom maker.
- Using sharp shears or scissors, trim the pom pom, preferably over a garbage can as a pom pom haircut will be messy! Trim until the pom pom is even and spherical. You can cut the center tie off during the trimming process or use them to sew the pom pom to your project.
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Craft and Knitwear Designer at Little Red Window Design
Welcome to Little Red Window! I’m Cassie, a professional craft and knitwear designer working in the field for more than 10 years. I have a degree in Art History from Northwestern University and a Master's Degree in Architecture and Design from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. I've designed more than 300 separate knitting patterns, hundreds of craft projects, and I love to bring joy to your crafts and knitting with well-designed, easy to understand tutorials and patterns.
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