DIY Pom Pom Bouquet

This project was sent by Alexandra (who also has an adorable Etsy shop). This non-floral alternative is a great idea for a rehearsal bouquet! Remember tomorrow is the last day to submit your DIY project. First place winner will receive $500 and second place winner a $100 gift certificate from Wendy Mink Jewelry. Click here for more details and how to enter. Good luck and Happy Friday!

From Alexandra:

This bouquet uses yarn scraps, old shirts of the groom’s (flannel and cotton button-down), an old tank top, a vintage knitting needle, some vintage lace, and old ribbon scrap. You also need a needle (curved would be preferable) and thread that matches your fabric, jewelry wire (about 26 gauge, a bit wider would be ok too), pins (optional, actually, you could sew everything), and fabric or hot glue, wire cutters (pliers might be helpful but not really necessary). I also added in a necklace, which is optional- you could also use a brooch, or any sentimental sort of trinket that can be tied or pinned on.

Most of these things can be purchased at Joann Fabric (joann.com), though I recommend going to your local yarn store to get nicer yarns (yarn.com also sells lots of nice stuff, and knitpicks.com has good prices.) You can get new fabric from Joann or another fabric store, or hit up some thrift stores, assuming you don’t have old shirts around. Same with ribbon and lace. The knitting needle doesn’t need to be vintage, just grab a cheap straight needle with a wide top from Joann. Make sure the needle is not longer than you want the entire bouquet, from top to “stem”, unless you have the tools to cut it shorter. It has several parts- yarn pompoms, fabric pompom, fabric yoyos, and assembly.

Yarn pompoms: Using a pom pom maker tool, wrap the scrap yarn around both “arms” of the device, filling it up as much as possible. Fold the arms in, snip the yarn, and tie another length of yarn around it tightly. Open the device, fluff the pompom, and trim.

Fabric pompom: Use a soft stretchy jersey fabric, like a flimsy t-shirt. Cut off all the seams and cut the remaining squares (formerly the front and back of the shirt) in a zigzag fashion so you have one long strip of fabric per side (again, I have pictures showing this process, it’s hard to explain.) Wrap these strips around the pompom maker and make a pompom like you did with the yarn (you may want to use yarn for the tie, since the jersey is not that strong). Trim until it looks nice.

See Also

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Yoyos: cut circles of varying sizes in a woven fabric (like a men’s shirt). You probably want the circles at least 6 inches in diameter. Thread a needle and work a running stitch around the outside of the circle. Pull the thread to gather the fabric into a little bundle, and press flat. Make a few stitches to tack the front of the flower to the back so it will stay flat. Tie off the yarn and tuck visible ends to the inside. If you want, you can hot glue or sew on a button for the center.

Assembling: Choose your biggest and most sturdy pompom, the one you want in the center of the bouquet. Shove the knitting needle through the middle of it and use a little hot glue to keep it in place (hide the end of the needle and the glue inside the fluff). For the rest of the pom poms and yoyos, cut off a length of jewelry wire, about 8 inches. Bend the top two inches down, like an upside-down J. Stick both ends through the pompom or through the fabric of the yoyo (through the ruffley middle part, preferably only through the back layer so it will hide well) and twist the short end around the longer one. Now you have a stem! Wrap that stem around the knitting needle so that the new “flower” is where you want it in relation to the center flower. Repeat for all the flowers.

Once the flowers are assembled, wrap the “stems” in a few layers of fabric and pin in place (or tack down with a few stitches- probably a better idea if you’re going to be a bit rough on it.) Drape wide strips of lace around the tops of the stems, just under the blooms, and again pin or stitch in place. If you want streamers of ribbon and lace, attach those the same way, underneath the lace. To add feathers, arrange and add just a dot of glue to hold them where you want them. Add vintage jewelry if desired- brooches, necklaces or mismatched earrings can be pinned on.