How to make Loom Flowers

 

On 24th May I am going to be taking part in The National Centre for Craft and Design’s event Keep Calm and Carry Yarn. For this I have been making lots of loom flowers and I have had several people ask how to make them so I thought I would show you guys.

Step 1

You will need:
Yarn
Scissors
Template
Darning Needle

The template is just a simple cog shape. Draw a circle and draw notches along the outside,  cut around and fold the notches up. Then cut a hole out of the centre. You will need to do this with some thick card or plastic so that it is strong enough to hold it’s shape when folded.

Step 2

Wrap the yarn around the notches on the template. This can be done at random or in order.

Step 3

Keep wrapping the yarn  The more you wrap around the fuller your flower will be.
Sew over the middle section with the end strand to secure loops in place

Step 4

To add detail and to ensure the loops are secure use a different coloured thread and stitch back and forth.

Step 5

Once the loops are secure lift the flower off the notches and you have yourself a loom flower!

To create a loom flower garland simply make lots of flowers and tie them together through the loops with strands of yarn.

To make flowers simply glue them to a stick. You can even make two flowers and glue them either side to make the flower double sided and fuller.

How to make pom poms in bulk

I have been working with Anna Roebuck at The Making House on a pom pom project for Voluntary Arts Week. This has required making lots of pom poms so rather then making one at a time I  have been making them in bulk using this simple technique.

All you need is some wood, 2 screws or nails, yarn, thread and scissors

Start buy screwing in your screws in to either end of the wood

Tie your yarn to one of the screws.

Begin to wind yarn around the two screws

Continue to do this for as long as you wish. The more yarn you use the fuller your pom poms will be

I used several screws so that I can do several colours at once

Use your thread to tie around the yarn. Tie this as tightly as you can. Each place you tie the thread will be the centre of a pom pom and will hold the strands in place

Continue all along the strands. Different spacing will produce different sized pom poms

Now cut  the yarn in between the tied segments.

When you have cut in between each tie fluff up the yarn and you have your pom poms! They may need a bit of a trim to make them nice and round.

You don’t have to make your own board to do this. You can use items around your house like the legs of a table. Here I used a coffee table while at The Making House

Making Pom Poms

I have been trying to think of things to make to use as props for my upcoming  photo shoot with Samantha Gallagher Photography. I want it to be a fun playful shoot and plan to do a bit of yarn bombing for it, which I’m very excited about! I also want to have props for the models to hold and  thought what’s more fun and playful then pom poms! So I made some pom pom flowers.

Pom poms are so easy to make  and all you need is yarn, scissors and some card or plastic to make a template out of.

Your template can be as big or small as you like it will just result in different sized poms poms. I would suggest making a few sizes and see which one works for you. My template is 9cm in diameter. After you have cut out your circle you need to cut a small hole in the centre and I cut a slit on one side to make winding the yarn round easier. Then all you have to do is wind the yarn round. The more yarn you use the firmer your pom pom will be.

Once your template is completely covered in yarn cut around the edge of the template.

once you have cut all the way around take a strand of yarn and tie around the centre to fasten all the strands in place. I tie several knots to make sure it is extra secure.

Then keep making more!

Now you can do what ever you like with your pom poms, the possibilities are endless!  For ideas check out my Pinterest

To make my flowers I knitted tubes and threaded wire through to create stems. I then used glue to fasten the pom poms to the stems. You can use what ever you like for the stems like twigs, which you could leave natural or paint a funky colour.