Weekend Project – Pom Pom Bag Charm

I have a cute little weekend crafting project for you which is very much on-trend; he pom-pom bag charm has an additional bonus of being lots of fun to make.  Pom-poms and tassels are adorning lots of summer bags and baskets in the shops.

Here are some very cute examples from Boden, Accessorize and Anthropologie. Inspired by the look I decided to create a bag-charm for my new beach bag. It is so easy to do.

Firstly the materials

A keyring fob or clasp – (you do not need this and can simply tie your charm to the handles of your bag)

3 different colours of wool – (I used aran weight for extra fluffiness)

2 different cotton weight yarns

1 lurex yarn

A pom-pom maker

3.5mm crochet hook

A small piece of card (mine was 8 x 7cm)

Some sharp scissors and a tapestry needle

Firstly I made a cord on which to sew my pom-poms and tassels. I took some blue yarn and combined it with some lurex yarn for extra bling. I made 28 chain stitches, then I double crocheted into the 2nd ch and every chain to the end. I left a long tail of yarn at the end. Using this tail I sewed the end of the cord to the keyring/lanyard fob and made sure I secured it.

Then I made 3 pom-poms. I used a pom-pom maker and I have a blog post about that here. But you can also make pom-poms using a fork so don’t think you need any special equipment at home. The yarn I used to tie up my pom-pom was the same as the yarn I chose to create my charm cord. I then sewed each pom pom to the cord quite near the end.

I then made two tassels. I find it looked better using a cotton yarn for this. The tassels don’t fluff up so much and look sleek.

I cut a small amount of lurex which I would use to tie the top of the tassel and placed it along the top of the card. I then used the cotton and wrapped the yarn over the card, ensuring the lurex was captured. I wrapped the cotton around about 30 times.

I then knotted the lurex yarn on the top of the tassel. Using sharp scissors I cut the bottom of the tassel which is at an opposite end to the lurex.

I then cut a small length of lurex and made a slip-knot in one end. I placed the loop of the slip-knot over the top of the tassel and pulled the slip-knot tight. Using the long end I wrapped the lurex round the yarn tassel several times and pulled it tight. I used a tapestry needle to make some small stitches in this lurex wrap to secure the yarn.

 

On both the pom-poms and the tassels I used my scissors to neaten up the edges and get rid of any stray strands.

Finally I wrapped the end of the cord around one bag handle and secured with the keyring/lanyard fob.

We are good to go and strut our stuff on the beach or the high street! Happy Weekend.

If you have a go at this project and have fun – please do send me some photos I would love to see them.