How to Make Pom Poms

By Rachel Choi – 38 Comments

Pom poms are easy and fun to make. All you need is yarn and scissors. Follow the four simple steps below to learn how to make a pom pom. In this example, the finished pom pom is 3 inches (8 cm) in diameter.

Step 1: Continuously wrap yarn around 3 fingers, about 100 times around

yarn pom-pom  yarn pom-pom

Step 2: Gently slide bundle of yarn off of hand

yarn pom-pom

Step 3: With same colored yarn, tie bundle tightly together in the middle

yarn pom-pom

yarn pom-pom

Step 4: Cut all the loops on the yarn, then trim and shape as desired

yarn pom-pom yarn pom-pom


To make a bigger or small pom pom, use more or less fingers in step one, as needed. To change the fullness of the pom pom, change the number of times the yarn is wrapped around your fingers.

Pom poms go great with hats and beanies. To add a pom pom to your hat or beanie, simple use a yarn needle and sew your pom pom on.

If you need help making a pom pom, just leave a comment and I will be sure to help!

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38 Comments

  1. […] Check out the how to make pom poms […]

  2. emily says:

    O.M.G. thank you sooo much! i have been wondering how to do this for the longest time!

  3. Rachel says:

    You’re welcome Emily! I’m so glad that you found it!

  4. […] Create a small pom pom and sew to back of bunny. Here is the “How to Make Pom Poms” tutorial if you need […]

  5. Ryry says:

    Thank you soo much! All the other websites i looked at were describing some sort of a hook or tool i need to use and i didnt want to have to go and find one. Once again thank you!

  6. Angie says:

    So much easier than the cardboard way I have found elsewhere. Thanks!

  7. Mary says:

    Exactly what I was looking for! Other instructions made it sound so complicated. The pictures helped. thank you

  8. Lisa says:

    Thank you so much for sharing! Love them!!

  9. sheila says:

    hi i am looking for a pattern or instructions on how to make a crochet bowl.i have heard that you can crochet a bowl? or make a bowl out of a doily? if there is instructions out there please email me. thanks sheila

  10. Jodi says:

    How do you make a pom pom with muliple colors??

    • Rachel says:

      Jodi, you can hold more than one color together when you are making the pom pom or alternate colors it give different looks. Feel free to play around with it and experiment!

  11. Jodi says:

    Thank you!! That was a stupid ? :). Sometime you work on something so long you cant make sense of anything!!

  12. monster says:

    in step three where youre supposed to tie it in the middle, does that mean around the outside middle of the entire bundle or through the middle of the bundle where your fingers used to be? thanks in advance!

  13. […] think many kids (or a lot of adults) can resist a beanie with a cute pom pom on top! See How to Make Pom Poms for a great […]

  14. Beth says:

    Wow thanks! I made a pom pom in less than 2 mintues!

  15. Porsche says:

    Omg. Thank u so much. Your way is so much easier than any other instructions that I’ve found and tha pictures help a ton. Thanks again. : )

  16. Shirley says:

    Thank you so much! I was wondering how you would make one!! I finished 1 of the easy adjustable slippers and wanted to put a pom-pom on it to give it some color. After tying it together,I would simply place the pom-pom on top of the slipper, draw the 2 pieces of yarn together and use the yarn needle to stitch it up under the underneath of the slipper?

    • Rachel says:

      Hi Shirley, sounds like a good idea to me. To attach the pom pom and can weave the yarn needle in and out of the pom pom and slipper until it seems secure enough for you. Have fun with it!

  17. Mary says:

    Thank you so much for the photos! I AM WORKING ON A CROCHETED BABY BLANKET THAT HAS LITTLE BUNNIES ACROSS THE BOTTOM. THE INSTRUCTIONS CALL FOR A POM POM AS THE TAIL, BUT I HAVE A CONCERN YOU MAY CAN HELP ME WITH. DO YOU THINK THAT WOULD ATTACH SECURELY ENOUGH FOR A BABY, WHO AS WE KNOW ALWAYS LIKE TO PUT EVERYTHING IN THEIR LITTLE MOUTH. JUST DON’T WANT THIS TO COME OFF, SO DO YOU HAVE AN ALTERNATE SUGGESTION FOR ME?
    THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

    • Rachel says:

      Mary, I think it will be ok, if you sew it on really well. If you’re scared it’ll come off, maybe crochet a circle for the tail instead of using a pom pom? That way you can sew all the edges of the circle down.

  18. Delaina says:

    Thanks ..I thought it would be easy….and it is….!

  19. melissa says:

    This is SO much easier than others I’ve found, thanks you so much! another one of those, why didn’t I think of that?! moments, lol. I have put a link to this tutorial on my blog, it can be found here:
    http://honeybeeboutiqueandblog.blogspot.com/2012/01/how-to-make-pom-poms-easy-way.html

  20. amber says:

    This was really helpful. Thank you so much.

  21. Colleen Bergman says:

    Thank you so much. I love your site.

  22. Helen says:

    Hi Rachel
    I am currently crocheting a poncho for my grand daughter and wanted to finish the top with a thread through yarned pom pom that can be tied at neck eg:

    pom pom here ————————————————————–pom pom here

    all one piece, is this possible?
    Cheers
    Helen

  23. Heather says:

    It’s hard to find a site that tells you how to anchor the pom pom to a hat.
    but thank you for the tutorial 🙂

  24. shidi says:

    ummm i did exactly the same but the lil strings come off..

    • Rachel Choi says:

      Hi Shidi, that happened to me the first couple times too. But I realized it had to be super tight when you tie it. You can even use multiple ties if you need to.

  25. Eva says:

    I’ve been making pompoms this way for years after reading it in a book. I leave the ends of the yarn that i use to tie around the middle a litttle long, thread them both a little bit apart through the hat to the inside,and tie them together in a tight knot. It holds very well. My one problem is always getting that center tie around the middle tight enough. It just never seems quite tight enough… Any tips on getting it tight?

    • Rachel Choi says:

      Hi Eva, it is tricky getting it tight! I like to make more than one tie to make sure it’s secure. Once you do the first tie, it always seems easier to get another tie even tighter. To get it as tight as possible I try to hold the knot down with a finger while trying to secure it.

  26. fariba kafi says:

    my opinion it can be very easy we need doing this pattern step by step.thank you again

  27. Elizabeth says:

    I have a problem. No mater the knot I use or how I stitch the pom pom to the hat they fall apart. Any suggestions

    • Rachel Choi says:

      Hi Elizabeth, I had the same problem when I first started making pompoms. What I do now is make multiple ties. Like I would bunch a few of the strands together and then make a tie around them. I would make multiple small ties. Then make one tie that ties all the strands.

  28. Donna says:

    Thanks for the tutorial! Instead of trying to tie the pompon with the yarn I used a zip tie and then tied some yarn around to give me something to attach it to my hat. When attaching to the hat I threaded the yarn through the hole in the top and then through a big holed flat button. I then tied a couple square knots. Worked wonderfully!

  29. judy says:

    How do I attach a pom pom to a poncho. Thanks
    Judy

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