How to Make Pom-Poms

I refer to the internet. There are several different techniques but I will stick to the tried and proven way I learned in Primary School.

1. Make two circles, say 5cm in diameter, out of cardboard. Cut equal sized holes, about 2cm, in the middles of the discs. You should now have two round pieces of cardboard with holes in the middle, like Polos, or Lifesavers if you’re reading this in Australia. I don’t know what they call them in America, Oreos or something. Maybe our Texan brethren can let us know? Anyway your pieces of cardboard should resemble a fruit-flavoured sweet with a hole in the middle, except bigger and flatter and made out of cardboard. Sandwich the two pieces together. The size of the discs and the holes will determine the size of the pom-pom.

2. Cut pieces of wool into manageable lengths, say about 2 metres. Thread the wool through a darning needle and start wrapping the discs, threading the wool through the hole and working your way around the disc. As each piece runs out make sure its trailing end is at the outside edge of the disc (don’t worry if it is a bit long, you can trim it later). Start each new piece by holding its end at the outside edge of the disc and then threading the wool through the centre. If you want a multi-coloured pom-pom, use different coloured pieces of wool. You can also work in some strings of glitter, or rags - like Diane von Furstenberg does. Chenille makes a very good pom-pom.

3. Once the pom-pom is quite fat, hold it firmly in the middle between your thumb and finger and start cutting the wool around the outside edge of the two discs. You won’t be able to slice through all the wool at once. Just keep working at it, cutting the wool in layers.

4. Once all the strands are cut, take another longish piece of wool and slide it between the cardboard discs. Pass it all the way around then pull and tie it in a very tight knot. This is important because this knot is the underpinning of your pom-pom. If it is slack, the pom-pom will be nothing more than a raggedy tassel. Leave the ends of the string long if you want to use it to hang your pom-pom from your rear vision mirror.

5. Slide the cardboard rings over and off the ends of the strands.

6. Fluff up your pom-pom. Give it a little haircut to trim any straggly bits so your pom-pom is neat and even.

I found some other, quicker ways, one using a square piece of cardboard, one using your fingers and one using three-quarters of a cardboard disc. I cannot endorse these unorthodox methods because I have not tried them.