I absolutely adore pom poms. They are big, fun, and slightly ridiculous, and for some reason, they always bring a smile to my face. They can be small or big, neutral or colorful, made from yarn, faux fur or real fur and they always add a little extra to the hat. There are many ways to attach a pom pom, but I have found one way, that has the rest beat. It’s fast and easy, works for all types of poms and yarn, keeps the pom close to the hat, doesn’t involve sewing, and the pom pom is easy to take on and off.
The secret trick – is a button!
Attaching a pom pom with a button
Using a button to attach a pom pom to a knitted hat or beanie is so wonderfully simple. You need a pom pom with strings and a button with holes large enough to fit the string size. You feed the strings through the top center of the hat, turn the hat inside out, and tie the strings to the button – Voilà!
The best part about the button method is that it’s easy to detach the pom pom. Most pom poms don’t do well in the wash, so it’s always a good idea to take off the pom if you need to wash your hat. It can also be fun to switch up the look of a hat by tying on a different size or color pom pom, or maybe wearing it without a pom pom every now and then.
And no, you do not feel the button against the top of your head.
What to do if your pom pom doesn’t have strings
Some pom poms have 2 or 4 strings attached to it, and if you are making your own pom pom from leftover yarn, it is easy to leave 2 long strings to attach the pom pom with. However, you may also purchase a pom pom with a small elastic or a press stud button, or even with nothing at all. Then you will have to attach strings yourself. You can use the same yarn you knitted the hat with, although if it is a chunky yarn it is easier to pick a thinner yarn that will fit better through the buttonholes.
The typical faux fur pom poms will have a semi-soft core that you can easily puncture with a needle so you can use a needle to secure the yarn to the core of the pom, leaving 2 strands dangling down. If the pom pom has an elastic, I like to use a crochet hook to pull the yarn string through the elastic.
Tying the strings of the pom pom to the button
Pom buttons
You can use any old button to attach your poms, although it is much easier if you can find buttons with nice big button holes. That being said, I have to show you these amazing specially designed pom buttons from Angie + Britt. They are made from Alder hardwood and are super lightweight, and they come with holes in three different sizes so you can match the thickness of the strings of the pom. Finally they have the text “Handmade Faux Fur Pom – Remove Before Washing” written on them – how cute is that? If you knit a lot of hats for gifts or for selling, this is a must have!
How do you attach your poms?
How have you been attaching your pom poms to your knitted hats, or are you not a pom pom kind of person? Are you going to try the button method next time? As always, I would love to hear your thoughts, so please leave a comment below.
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I am going to try this with some Pom poms with string. If you just tie a bow do you ever find it comes loose, I don’t want customers to lose their poms! The string on my ones is quite thin so a double bow would make it hard to undo
I always do a knot (single, not double!) and then a bow. The bow can be nice and loose, but the knot I do tightly to pull the pom close to the hat. I have never lost a pom or had trouble removing it. Obviously, this might depend on the type of string you use for your poms. It sounds like you sell your own hats and poms so I would experiment a little with the knot and bow. One thing you can also try is to pull the two strings through the hat a little apart from each other, on each side of the center, rather than through the center. This can help pull the pom closer to the hat without the need to tighten the knot so much. I would love to hear back from you when you have found your best practice.
I sew a button on the inside top, then use a crochet hook to pull the elastic through the top and hook it around the button so the pompom can be removed for washing or to change pompom colours.
I do the same as Nicole. The pom poms I bought have a small elastic loop. I sew a button inside on top of hat. Then I pull the elastic through top of hat and around the button. This not only allows you to take it off to wash hat or wear hat without the pom pom.
The fur poms I purchased have a snap on them. But the company didn’t supply the opposing snaps to sew on my handmade beanies. It would be so nice to be able to snap on and then unsnap the poms before washing the hat. Any suggestions?
I make my pom pom’s I use a needle and have 2 tails of yarn to bring through in different areas under the pom pom, then tie knots. They are nice and sturdy. No problems so far