I uploaded a super quick project on my Instagram yesterday and you all seemed really excited by a tutorial, so here it is! Now you can make your own wool pom-pom garland. The fact it’s so quick meant I could bring this to you in such a quick turn around, enjoy! Follow the easy steps below and you too can have a cute Pom-Pom garland and if you decide to have a go, I would love to see, so feel free to tag @thebungalowedit #bungalowpompoms

YOU WILL NEED:

• Embroidery Floss in any colour like this. (DMC even do a sparkly version that I’ve used before for this project.)
• Scissors
• Sharp large needle, like this one.
• Knot tying abilities.
• A sheet of card to store your garland on.
• Approx 15 x 2cm Wool Pom-poms I got mine from here.

OR to make your own felt balls

• 700ml hot water
• Wool fleece in a variety of colours.
• 2 tablespoons of washing up liquid

NB: I bought 3x 10 packs of the pom-poms, so I had enough to make two garlands with 3 colour balls but the more you buy the more you save and the garlands make fantastic Christmas gifts. Some of the pre made colour packs are great too, if you can’t decide on a colour way. If you wanted to add some sparkle to the mix I’ve bought some glittery felt balls from Sew Sweet in the past or you could equally glitter your own plain ones with some glitter glue. Everybody loves the sparkle!

Here are some of the past garlands I’ve made for inspiration.

METHOD:

If you’re making your own felt balls.

1. Mix the washing up liquid into the warm water, get soapy!
2. Take a small bit of wool, and wrap longer lengths of wool fleece tightly around it, add layers of wool until your ball is roughly 4-5cm diameter.
3. Submerge your fluffy ball into the soapy hot water, remove and gently roll it in your palms to keep its ball shape, resist the temptation to squeeze the water out.
4. Do this for about 8 minutes dipping it back into the water each time it cools. This aggravates the fibres, causing the wool to felt. It will feel like a wet, horrible mess. Don’t worry! It will begin to firm up. Stop when the ball has shrunk to about 2-2.5cm diameter.
5. Rinse with cold water, then leave to dry. Once all your balls have dried, follow the steps below to make your garland.

If you’ve bought your balls:

1. To start, chop a good length of your embroidery floss, I do this by eye now but about half of your floss will do for one garland, obviously the closer or further apart you place your felt balls will determine how long your overall garland will be.
2. Tie a loop by making a knot in one end of your floss. Then tie another knot further along the floss.
3. Thread a needle onto the other end of your floss.
4. Select your first ball and pass the needle right through the middle of the ball. Slide it all the way to the knot you tied after the loop.
5. Secure the ball by tying another knot the other side of the ball nice and close.
6. Now for the fiddly bit, hold the embroidery floss in your fist and wrap the floss around your index finger, slide the needle under the loop on your index finger and tie a knot. (This is how I ensure my spacing is even, If you just want a continuous pom-pom garland just skip this step.)
7. Add your next ball then repeat from step 5 until you’ve used all 15 balls.
8. Secure your last ball and remove the needle. I then add another hanging loop to this end, making my spacing the same as the initial loop. Then trim the hanging loops if needed.
9. Wrap the entire garland round some card ready to store or gift!

So there you go! And don’t forget to tag me in any of your makes, @thebungalowedit #bungalowpompoms I can’t wait to see yours!