Fabric Pom Pom Tutorial

Yesterday, I made a Mardi Gras capuchon (that's prononuced cap-e-shon and it's the big cone shaped hats the mardi gras wear when they run...don't worry, my next post will have pics of it, but I wanted to post the fabric pom pom separate because it could have so many different uses besides sitting on top of a capuchon).

What you'll need:

Fabric (the amount depends on the size of pom pom you want...mine was 3" and I used about 1/4 of a yard)

cardboard

box cutter

beading string, fishing line, or thread

pinking shears

 Trace a circle on your cardboard.  Then, trace a smaller one inside it.  You want the distance between the circles to be half the width you want your pom pom to be.  ex.  if you want a 4" pom pom  you want 2" between your circles.

Carefully cut out two of these...they should look like doughnuts.

WARNING:  THE BOX CUTTER CAN CUT YOU!

sad I have to put that huh?

Cut a slit in each of them.

Fold your fabric so that the fold meets the selvedges(this just makes the cutting go quicker...not really a neccesary step)..btw...how the heck do you spell neccesary?  Is that right????

I cut my fabric strips about 1/2" wide along the cross grain (runs from selvedge to selvedge) with pinking shears.

Then, stack your two cardboard doughnuts on top of each other and just start wrapping...

and wrapping, and wrapping, and wrapping till you have all your strips wrapped around the cardboard doughnuts.

Snip the strips apart around the edges.  You really need sharp scissors for this or you will have a hard time like I did...I really need some good scissors...

Separate the cardboard doughnuts a little and wrap your fishing line or whatever you are using to tie it around the center.  Make sure you use something strong because as you can see I used a piece of fabric and it ended up snapping.  You a have to pull really to make sure your strips wont fall out.  I think next time I make one I will wrap my string around the center then run a bead of hot glue around the inside circle just before I tighten it up...not sure how well it would work but it's an idea...

Then fluff it up and you are done!

I think I am going to try using this method with some tulle to make fairy wands!  and I may make a v-day garland out of them too!...woohoo!  my v-day crafter's block just might be going away!  ; )