How to Make a Fur Pom Pom – Easy Hand Sewing Tutorial

Pompoms just make me happy. They’re so fun and colorful! But when I started seeing faux fur pompoms everywhere a few years ago, I was in love. So soft. So fluffy. I decided that I had to learn how to make them, and discovered that it’s actually really easy. So today I’m sharing with you how to make a fur pom pom from faux fur fabric!

Basically, all you have to do is sew a simple running stitch around a circle of fabric, scrunch it up and stuff it. This is such an easy hand sewing project that even a person who has never touched needle and thread can do it!

Once you hold your first DIY faux fur pompom in your hand, you’ll never want to put it down! They’re just so soft!

And you can use faux fur pompoms with lots of projects: topping hats, making “ears” on a headband, forming a cool garland, wreath or keychain, among other things!

Can you guess how I’ll use this pompom, judging by the fabric it’s with in the picture above? I’ll show you the project and tutorial at the end of this tutorial!

Ready to learn how to make a fur pom pom? Watch this video or continue reading the tutorial below!

Materials for a faux fur pompom:

• Faux fur fabric*. A 5″ (13 cm) square is enough for one pompom. You can use any color you want!
• A bowl or other round object. I used a bowl with a 5″ (13 cm) diameter.
• A pen
• Fabric scissors*. I suggest using smaller fabric shears to better cut the fur fabric.
• Hand sewing needle*
• Polyester thread* matching the fabric. (I’m using a different color so it will show up better in the tutorial.) Don’t use cotton thread, which could easily snap.
• A small amount of stuffing*

The diameter of your pompom will be about half the diameter of the bowl or other object you trace around.

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What is faux fur fabric?

Faux fur fabric* is a specialty fabric that you can purchase in most fabric shops. It’s definitely different from most fabrics, so you need to understand it before you start working with it.

Faux fur fabric is a knit fabric with long fibers on one side. The fur side is the right side and the knit side is the wrong side.

I highly suggest always finding the direction of the fur and marking it with an arrow on the wrong side. (I’ll show this in the instructions below.) This is to avoid your fur going in the wrong direction in your finished project.

Mark pattern pieces on the wrong side of synthetic fur fabric. When you cut the fabric, cut from the wrong side, slipping the scissors blade under the knit fabric base, but without catching the long fur fibers. (I’ll show this, too, in the instructions.)

Now that you’ve got your materials and understand the fabric, let me show you how to make a fur pom pom!

How to make a fur pom pom:

1. “Pet” the fabric to find the direction of the fur.

2. Turn the fabric to the wrong side and draw an arrow indicating the fur direction.

3. Trace the bowl (or round object) on the wrong side of the fur fabric.

4. Notice the direction of the fur before you start cutting.

5. Slip the blade of the scissors under the knit fabric, without catching any long fur fibers, and make a small cut.

6. Continue making small cuts all the way around the circle. You’ll notice the long fur sticking out over the cut edge at the bottom of the circle (pointed to by the arrow). It doesn’t stick out over the other edges.

Thread the needle with a long piece of polyester thread*. Bring the two ends together and tie a knot. This way you’ll have an extra-resistant double thread.

7. Insert the needle at the edge of the circle (from the wrong side). Weave it back and forth from the front to the back as seen here. Try not to catch the long fur fibers, just the knit base.

8. Pull the needle through, leaving a bit of the knotted tail of thread hanging out. This is called the running stitch, or basting stitch, and is one of the most simple hand stitches.

9. Continue sewing this stitch all the way around the edge of the circle, until you get back to where you started.

10. Gently pull the threads to gather the fabric.

11. Put the circle on a working surface and arrange it so that it forms a sort of little bowl, with the fur on the outside. Pull one thread end at a time to continue gathering the fabric.

12. Put a small amount of stuffing* inside the “bowl”. It doesn’t have to be packed in tight.

13. Continue pulling the threads to close the opening as much as possible. Don’t pull too hard, or the threads could snap!

14. Tie a knot, which will close the opening even more. Then tie another knot to hold it in place.

15. Use the needle still attached to one thread end to sew back and forth a couple of times across the opening. Make sure you catch the fabric and not just the fur. I suggest two stitches horizontally and then two stitch vertically, which will pull the hole completely closed.

Tie a double knot.

And you are done! Shake the pompom to make the fur stick out prettily!

You can use the needle, which is still attached to the thread, to sew the pompom onto a hat or any other project. Or, if you just want a plain faux fur pompom, just cut off the thread ends.

Such an easy and fast project! Once you know how to make a fur pom pom, they only take minutes to make!

And what better way to use this fuzzy white pompom than to top a snuggly DIY Santa hat?! Make sure you check out my tutorial on how to sew a Santa hat (there’s also a free 3-size pattern!) so your whole family can have fun!

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