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Contemporary yarn crafts by Heidi Gustad. Knitting, crochet, latch hook and macrame.

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How to: My Wedding Craft Party Pom Pons!

December 31, 2010 Leave a Comment

To start off, I wanted to wish you all a fantastic New Year! My fiance and I got an amazing Christmas present last week – we found out we’re moving to Chicago next summer! We’re getting married in just 64 days (holy sh*t) and will be moving in June. It gets better, too! I’ve got some pretty promising prospects on a library internship next summer and will have my Master’s in August.

Ok, I’ll stop digressing now. The other night, I threw a craft party and enlisted some of my friends (who are amazing!) to help me make a dent in the 50 pom pons with which I’m decorating my wedding venue.

from top: wine cork pin cushion, the craft party spread

The Math

50 pom pons x 5 packets per filter x 5 filters per packet =

50 pom pons x 25 filters per pom = 1,250 filters in need of dyeing

I wanted half of my poms in green and half in yellow, so 1,250/2 = 625 filters in each color. Phew!

Supplies

1250 bleached coffee filters

1 bottle of green food coloring

1 bottle of yellow food coloring

upholstery thread (color doesn’t matter)

1 tapestry needle

1 coaster

1 pin cushion (since I threw a party, I gave my guests some old wine corks so they could each have a pin cushion)

Dyeing the filters

In this post, I go over step-by-step instructions for dyeing the filters. However, to dye the absurd amount of filters I needed to dye without taking MONTHS, I dyed them in the sink in bunches of 50 or so and dried them in the dryer. Just make sure to use a gentle dryer setting, and you should use a timer! The ones that I accidentally over-dried shrunk like clothes.

Producing Pom Pons en Masse

My darling mother came to visit me from North Dakota last week, and she helped me figure out how to make these beasts more efficiently. I should have thought to ask for her help earlier on in my pom pon prototyping experiments. After all, she’s the one who taught me how to craft. :)

She came up with the idea of having my party guests sew packets of coffee filters together, rather than assemble whole poms. It turned out to be great because not everyone is comfortable with sewing, especially using a paper material.

How to Make a Packet of Filters

  • Take 5 filters from your laundry basket.
  • Fold them in half and in half again, and layer them in alternating directions (see picture). Use your coaster to hold each filter in place as you fold.
  • Thread your needle, doubling the thread and tyeing a knot securing the two ends together. Punch a hole through all 5 layered filters. Sew back through the hole you punched a couple times.
  • Punch a second hole through your filters, and sew back through the new hole twice again.
  • Punch your third and final hole, making a triangle of holes in your filter. Sew a couple of times through this last hole. Secure your thread with a couple of knots and cut your thread.

Assembling the Packets in to Poms

Using 5 completed packets, start sewing them together. That’s it! You just have to, pardon the Tim Gunn reference, make it work. Just make sure not to sew too close to the end of the packet of filters. You’ll end up with packets raining down from the sky and your future pom pon garland will look like crap.

Once you’ve sewn 5 packets together, you’ll notice how flat-looking your poms are. Fluffing them is as easy as unfolding them at the crease. A picture is worth a thousand words:

I have yet to assemble my full pom pon garlands, other than the party decorations below, but my plan is to use fishing line. I’ll post full details when I reach that point. For now, my wonderful party guests helped me finish assembling 190 of the 250 packets of filters I needed.

I need to end this absurdly long tutorial and get back to assembling poms! Happy New Year!

Filed Under: DIY Wedding, How-to Tagged With: coffee filters, dyeing, food coloring, heidedwed, party, pom pons, poms, Sewing, wedding crafts

About Heidi

Heidi Gustad is an artist, author and crafts designer specializing in knitting, crochet, latch hook and macrame. In addition to running the Hands Occupied Blog and Pattern Shop, you can find her making videos & co-hosting the Very Serious Crafts podcast.

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Heidi Gustad from Hands Occupied / Craft Book Author and Knitting, Crochet, Latch Hook and Macrame Designer

Hi! I’m Heidi, an author, yarn craft designer and content creator specializing in knitting, crochet, latch hook & macrame. My work unapologetically features primary colors and vintage-meets-modern style. My first book, Latch Hook: 12 Projects for the Modern Maker, is now available!

Professionally I’m most known for: advanced intarsia knitting design & modern latch hook design.

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knitting, crochet, latch hook & macramé

Heidi Gustad 🧶✂️
There’s an update on the blog today, & it’s ab There’s an update on the blog today, & it’s about how I’m going to take the next 2 weeks off to rest & recharge. ☺️🧶 No new content for y’all means I can also take a moment to zoom out & plan what’s next. Link is in bio. 
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A note on Very Serious Crafts: In the post I discuss stepping away from the @seriouscrafts podcast to give myself more time to devote to some minor medical issues. Don’t you worry - my health will be fine, & @molliejohanson @redhandledscissors and I are still pals, and after a short break of their own, the podcast will be back! Just sans moi. 💁🏼‍♀️😆 
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See you in a couple weeks! ✌🏻#handsoccupied #knitdesign #craftdesign #sofadedsweater
Been a little quiet this holiday week, as it shoul Been a little quiet this holiday week, as it should be. ☺️🎄The past few days have been filled with a lot of catching up on festive zoom calls & raising toasts to the camera. 🥂 Connecting with people has been a welcome change of pace! Now I’m feeling ready to meet my inevitable end-of-year deadlines. 😆
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Warmest wishes for the season, my friends! ❤️💛💙
Hi, I’m Heidi, the craft book author & maker beh Hi, I’m Heidi, the craft book author & maker behind Hands Occupied! 👋🏻 I’ve been enjoying making Reels a lot lately, but I wanted to bop in to share a regular photo & say hello. 🤓 
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rather than giving you my bio right now, I have a question. I just got this new sweater & I can’t stop imaging how funny it would be to wear this to a knitting class ... is that bad? 🤣🤣🤣
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Pictured: a blond woman with glasses wearing a sweater that reads “all your sweaters are ugly” standing in front of a Christmas tree.
Wet blocking, also called immersive blocking, is o Wet blocking, also called immersive blocking, is one of the most common methods for finishing a knitting project and helping ensure its final size and shape. Learn basic blocking for absolute beginners in an easy-to-follow (non-Reel!) video tutorial! Catch the tutorial on YouTube or the Hands Occupied Blog, link is in bio. 🧶 #handsoccupied #stopswatchandblockit #KPAmbassadorsDec20 #sponsored
Had to share this perfect capture of one of my fav Had to share this perfect capture of one of my favorite weird homemade Christmas ornaments: a simple macramé Santa face with beads for the eyes and nose! My Great-Grandma made it too. 🎄
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Might have to try making a quickie Reel tutorial for this guy - I think it’s the perfect project for it, don’t you? 🎅🏼 #handsoccupied #macrame
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