CRAFTY POST - Making a DIY Pom Pom Rug

It was easier to put some instructions on this blog, than post responses on facebook, so here they are...

It's very simple to make, just takes forever to make them

I went fairly large for a pom pom rug (there's a surprise) - Most you see on Pinterest or google tend to be smaller

In total I made over 400 pom poms. Time consuming, but so easy to make anywhere, so you stop becoming aware you are even making them.  You zone out, and your hands just keep going

You will need:

Wool - (fairly obvious).  It uses quite a lot. I used cheap double knit from my stash (which has obviously grown again, as I bought more in case I ran out)

Latch Hook Canvas - I got this off ebay.  The piece I used was 70cm x 100cm


Pom Pom Maker (You can use traditional cardboard rings, but you will probably be 110 years old before you finish)

I used the 45mm Small Clover Pom Pom maker.  (the yellow one)

(Don't bother with ebay chinese copies - they are crap)


These aren't massive pom poms, but it would have used even more wool, if I had used my larger ones.  It takes roughly 2-3 minutes a pom pom

Its faster if you use two strands of wool at a time - you need to wind around the pom pom maker until the centre is level with the arcs - approx 100 times around each side of the maker (50 if using double strands)

I found if you wind it in the centre, then push the wool to the side, repeat, then fill the middle, its easier

Reverse of the rug - poms poms tied, and edges finished

The Design

I made small flowers - two coloured poms in the middle, and six plain colours around them.
When I started to tie these to the rug, I had small gaps. To fill these gaps and the edges, I made a lot of contrasting black and white, and plain black pom poms - these just filled the spaces

How to make

Start making a good stash of pom poms in different colours - I made about 50, which was the first row of flowers

When you tie each pom pom, make sure it is as tight as possible.  I double the strands I used to tie them - and leave long tails - you will need these.  I do 2 knots on one side of the pom pom, then wrap the wool to the other side of the pom pom maker, and do two knots on this side

Now just tie the pom pom to the latch hook canvas, again as tight as possible - Leave a small edge of about 2cm around the edge of the canvas

Keep going until you are happy with the amount of pom poms.  Fill any spaces that look a bit gappy with a contrasting pom pom

Finishing

I turned over each of edges of the canvas and sewed them over to get rid of the raw edges

On the outside edge pom poms only, I also sewed from the back of the rug to the front, through the pom pom and back again.  This stopped the outer pom poms falling outwards

Once I was happy with this, I backed it with Hessian (I used a coffee sack I had), and just oversewed the edges.  If any pom poms go astray, I can always replace and sew through both layers to attach them again

All done, and in place!

It passed Tarqs stringent testing standards