A very long time ago I made my first DIY pom pom using this method. It was part of a crafting kit that showed you how to make little custom creatures out of pom poms. When I tried the kit I never got far enough to actually make any of the little pom pom creatures. However I did manage to make a few pom poms. The other day by sheer coincidence I actually ended up coming across some of these old circle template pom poms. And let me tell you, they looked absolutely AWFUL!
Thankfully, I’ve honed my technique a bit since then and I’d like to think that my pom pom making skills have improved by a lot. Practice makes perfect, as they say.
The circle template that I designed for this tutorial is a bit different than the one I used in my little kit. The old one I used way back then was a bit harder to wind the yarn on, so I wanted to improve on that. But other than that little aspect the concept is pretty much the same.
Anyway, let’s get to it!
What You Will Need for this Project
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Yarn
You can use any standard scissors you have on hand, but I HIGHLY recommend these ones when making Pom Poms. When it comes time to snip the loops of the pom pom there isn’t much room. So the smaller pointed tips help a lot with that. The spring in the scissors also takes a lot of effort out of trimming the pom pom at the end, too.
How to Make a Circle Template Pom Pom
Step 1: Trace and Cut Templates
First things first, you will need to make your pom pom maker. I used the cardboard from a cat food box, but you can use anything you want as long as it’s fairly thin and stiff enough to hold up to wrapping the yarn around it many times.
Trace the shape of the pom pom maker onto your cardboard and cut it out. You will need two copies of the template.
You can find the exact template that I used in my Resource Library. The template is about 3.5” wide and gives a pom pom about the same size. However, if you want a pom pom that’s bigger or smaller than that, it can easily be resized to whatever you want.
Step 2: Line Up Templates and Wind Yarn
Line up both template pieces so that they perfectly overlap. Then you can begin winding your yarn. You can do this any way you like, but I like to start from one end and work in sections until I get to the other end. Then I will continue winding in sections going the other direction and do that back and forth until the pom pom maker is completely full.
When you’re winding your yarn, try to keep things as even around as possible. You don’t want the pom pom to end up more full on one end versus the other.
I also suggest leaving just a little bit of space at each end of the gap to prevent any of the yarn loops from falling off.
It’s going to take a while, but just keep winding that yarn. When the pom pom maker is full, it will look something like this:
There will be a little bit of empty space around where the gap in the pom pom maker is. But other than that the yarn should be filled as close as possible to where the center of the circle would be.
Step 3: Cut Loops
Now you can begin cutting the loops around the edge of the pom pom maker. Starting at either end, begin carefully snipping away the yarn until the template in the middle is visible. I found it a bit easier when I had my scissors on the side of the templates. But you could cut in between them as well if you prefer.
Here’s another look at the pom pom maker without the scissors in the way. As you are snipping around, the two pieces of the pom pom maker should be visible with no yarn in the way.
Continue snipping all the way around until all the yarn loops have been cut. It will look something like this:
Step 4: Tie Yarn Bundle and Remove From Pom Pom Maker
Cut a new piece of yarn about 12 inches in length. If you resized the template, this length might need to be a bit bigger or smaller. Then fit the yarn in between the two templates and tie one or two knots as tight as you can. This is what will be holding the entire pom pom together, so make sure it’s secure.
Once your knot is tied, carefully remove the pom pom maker pieces by opening it up and sliding the pom pom through the gap.
As you can see in the picture above, the pom pom maker is still in very good shape so it’s durable enough to make multiple pom poms with.
You also might notice that the pom pom has a bit of an odd shape to it at this point. Don’t worry, that will all be fixed in the next step.
Step 5: Trim and Shape
Lastly, the pom pom needs to have a trim before it’s truly done. Using your scissors, start snipping away at the pom pom to shape it into a ball. You will need to cut away quite a bit for it to be nice and dense. So don’t be shy at this part and trim it down until it looks how you like.
When you are done you will have a little pile of yarn fuzzies. A lint roller can come in handy with cleanup.
Final Thoughts
Like any of the other DIY pom pom methods I’ve covered, the circle template yields a very good looking and dense pom pom. It also doesn’t require quite as much trimming compared to some other methods. So overall you end up wasting less yarn.
Also, since the finished pom pom ends up being just about the same size as the template, it’s very easy to make custom sizes to perfectly suit your projects. In the picture below, you can see just how close in size the finished pom pom is to the template it was made from.
The circular shape also makes it possible to do some of the more detailed multicolored poms. As far as I know that can only be achieved using this method, and with the commercially made pom pom makers that are also a circular shape.
The biggest downside is the time it takes to wind the yarn, which seems like forever. I wasn’t timing myself when I made this one, but I think it took around 20 minutes or so to fully fill the pom pom maker. In comparison, every other method only takes a few minutes at most.
Overall, in most aspects I still find using my Clover pom makers to be the best option for making pom poms because it can do everything this method can do but better and faster. However, if you don’t want to buy a dedicated tool for pom pom making or you need a very specific size that the commercial pom pom makers don’t cover, this can still be a very good option.
I hope that you enjoyed this tutorial and found it helpful. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to leave them below. I’d love to hear from you! Thank you for stopping by and happy crafting!
How tight do do wind the yarn around the pompon maker?
You will want it to be tight enough that there’s no loose yarn loops moving around, but it doesn’t need to be extremely tight. The only part that needs to be really, really tight is the yarn piece that ties everything together (step 4). I hope that helps!