It’s that time of year where we often need a quick DIY project to either keep little people happy during the school holidays *or* provide a fab small gift for unexpected visitors.
That is where my faux fur pom pom keychain (DIY style) comes in! In fact, this tutorial has been so popular with readers since it was first published that I’ve now made a video tutorial to go along with it – I’ll add it to the bottom of the tutorial in case that’s what you’re after!
The video tutorial shows the same process of making the faux fur pom pom keychain, only in it I am using woven faux fur instead of the knit faux fur used in the original. I have also included how to cut your faux fur fabric so that you get a lovely finish instead of a blunt cut!
Now, if you’ve been here before, you know me – I’m not one for going out and buying faux fur unnecessarily because of the environmental impact of manufacturing faux fur fabric.
But I see no reason why we shouldn’t reuse it if it’s on a pile of things to be thrown – let’s repurpose what we have for some extra life!
This is a super easy project to make yourself – or to get little fingers busy with!
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What Is The Easiest Way To Make A Pom Pom?
I have found that making a pom pom is really easy if you use the gathered circle method, which is what I’ll be teaching you in this DIY tutorial.
Others use the circle with darts method, and though this can result in a more solid and structured pom pom, I find that the faff or sewing all the different darts closed is not very easy at all, especially when using a faux fur with all the pile!
What You’ll Need For Your DIY Faux Fur Pom Pom
These are such an easy make that you won’t be needing much in the way of supplies for this simple project:
- Faux fur
- A circle to draw around (a small plate of cup works well)
- Marker pen
- Fabric scissors
- Topstitching thread (or double up your thread of choice)
- Hand sewing needle
- Sewing machine
- Fabric or old leather for the keychain strap
- Keychain clasp
- Fabric scraps or wadding
Making Your Pom Pom Keychain
Start by gathering all the supplies listed above.
Step 1: Drawing The Pom Pom Circle
Your first step is to lay the faux fur on your table, with the fluffy side down. Take your marker pen or tailors chalk, and whatever you’ve decided to use for your circle, and mark all the way around it.
Step 2: Cutting Out The Pom Pom Circle
This can be tricky, so if you’re doing this project with small hands, you may need to help.
Angle the scissors (fabric ones of course!) so that the point of the blade is just under the wrong side of the faux fur – the aim is to cut in gentle snips along the drawn circle but not through the actual ‘fluffy’ part of the fur. Bluntly cut fur is not our plan!
Step 3: Make And Attach The Keychain Strap
For my example faux fur pom poms I have used leather scraps – I have a small old suitcase filled with scraps to be used – which didn’t require any ‘finishing’.
If you do not have any lying around yourself, you can also make a simple strap by finding a small piece of fabric and cutting a rectangle:
- 2.5 cm / 1″ wide
- 20 cm / 8″ long
The fabric should be overlocked / zig zag stitched on one long edge, folded into three lengthways with the raw edge inside, and the finished edge on top, and then sewn either down the middle or on either side – the process is similar to making belt loops!
Note: the width and length is dependent on the size of your keychain clasp.
For the larger white and blue pom poms, I used the above measurements, but for the smaller white one with the pink leather strap, I used:
- 0.5 cm wide
- 15 cm long
Thread the strap through the ring of your keychain clasp so the clasp is in the center and then attach to the circle as shown in the photo below.
Note: if using leather, you will possibly want to glue the two sides together as I have to prevent them being open and catching.
Trim the threads and grab your hand sewing needle and thread – we’re moving onto making the fluffy pom pom!
Step 4: Hand Stitching The Fluffy Pom Pom
Now, this is an easy step to complete! Start by securing your first stitch close to where the keychain is attached.
Then stitch with long stitches around the perimeter of the faux fur circle.
When done, leave the thread hanging but remove the needle – we now need to gather the faux fur into a pom pom ball!
Step 5: Gathering And Stuffing The DIY Pom Pom Keychain
We’re now ready to start gathering the faux fur and stuffing it with the pom pom filling. I have chosen to use fabric remnants for my filling as I have quite a bit in my basket.
Start by gently pulling on the long thread tail, so that the faux fur circle starts to gently gather up.
Repeat this again, making sure the gathering is even.
Once the faux fur circle has created a bowl-like shape, it’s time to add some stuffing!
Continue gathering the faux fur by easing the fabric along the thread until you have it as ‘closed’ as it can get. You may need to add some more fabric scraps or wadding at this point if it feels a little flat.
Step 6: Closing The Pom Pom Keychain
The final step is to ‘close’ the pom pom opening! This is where it can get tricky as the hand sewing can be finicky with faux fur fabric – if making this with little hands, be sure to help!
You’ll need to pinch the faux fur fabric together and use an overcast stitch to close the circle.
Your DIY pom pom keychain will have a raw edge of sorts but this is ok. Just keep stitching the overcast stitch to enclose as much as possible.
Once you’ve completed, you need to trim the thread and then fluff up the faux fur of your DIY pom pom!
Your DIY Pom Pom Keychain!
There you have it! A fun, easy faux fur pom pom keychain which makes a perfect DIY gift this holiday season!
As I said at the start, these are super easy pom pom keychains to make at home – and they make great little gifts for unexpected visitors during the holidays too!
Pom Pom Keychain Video Tutorial
As promised, here is the new video tutorial on making the Pom Pom keychain using a woven faux fur!
Let me know how you get on with this project in the comments below and if you need some more sewing projects, do check out this page of sewing projects!
