How to Make a Pompom Rug

Pompoms are a great way to add a soft, fluffy accent to many things. Why not put all that softness to use underfoot? By combining several sizes and colors, you can create a rug with plenty of texture that coordinates with your decor. The shape and size are limited only by your imagination. This rug would be great for a kid’s room, playroom, or even as a bright bath mat.

Instructions:

To begin, determine approximately how many pompoms are needed. Plan for an average of 24 pompoms per square foot. Our rug is 2’ x 3’ and 150 pompoms were used. A variety of sizes is essential to create a textural look for your rug. For our rug, 35mm, 45mm, 65mm and 85mm sizes were used. The color combination is a personal choice, but to obtain a balance, a safe place to start is a ratio of 3:2:1:1 – main color, secondary color, accent color, and accent color respectively. Determine how many pompoms will be needed for each color and then distribute that number evenly over the sizes of pompoms for each color.

Make all of the pompoms first. Wrap yarn around the pompom maker until it is full at the bottom of the arch or it is thick enough to fit into maker with some resistance when closed. Close the arch into the pompom maker and cut the working strings level with the top of the wrapped yarn. Tip: Wrapping yarn from several skeins of yarn at once will greatly reduce the time necessary to make the pompoms.

Hold the arches together in the closed position and cut along the center of the wrapped yarn on both sides.

Lay the pompom maker on a flat surface. Cut a piece of yarn at least 15" long. Wrap it around the maker horizontally at the center. At the top, loop the yarn twice and pull tightly to the center of the maker, securing all of the pieces of yarn together. Tie an additional single knot. Release the pompom from the maker.

Use scissors to trim away yarn that extends too far to create a uniform ball. Do not cut the two long tails from the knot used to tie the pompom together, you'll use those pieces to secure the pompom to the rug canvas.

Cut the rug canvas to the desired size and shape. To create a rectangle with rounded corners, use a large bowl or plate at each corner to draw a curve. Use scissors to cut away the area outside of the curves.

Fold bias tape over the edge of the rug canvas and pin it in place. Sew the bias tape to the rug canvas, stitching close to the open edge of the bias tape. At the end, fold the end of the bias tape under and overlap the starting point of the bias tape for a clean finish. Trim away any excess thread.

Lay the pompoms on a flat surface to create your design. Start with the largest pompoms. Distribute them evenly over a space equal to the size of the rug canvas. Add the remaining pompoms from largest to smallest, placing them randomly but balanced.

Begin adding the pompoms to the canvas in the order you have planned. Hold the bottom of the pompom (the side with the long tails) against the rug canvas where you want it to go. Hold the spot with your finger and then insert the crochet hook at the nearest hole. The crochet hook should go from the top, through a hole, and back to the top on the other side of the grid. Use the hook to pull through both tails of the pompom.

Split the tails in half and wrap them around the back of the pompom. Tie a knot tightly at the back and bottom of the pompom. Tie an additional knot. Trim away excess yarn.

Fill in the rug canvas with the pompoms as designed. Make any additional pompoms necessary to fill in gaps and attach them as needed.