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Sunday, June 10, 2012

Pom Poms & Finesse

I finally got a chance to make some of the projects from that pom pom book I posted about last week.  Even though the book is in Japanese, the directions were easy to follow.  The hardest thing about the projects was the finessing.  For me, finessing is sculpting, molding and manipulating a craft project to look its best.

It occurred to me I've never really talked about this final step in the crafting process.  The truth is, I don't really think about finessing when I do it so the step gets left out.  Once in a while I might mention in a tutorial, "needs a little finessing" but that's as far as it goes.  I guess the best way to explain finessing is with a few pictures of how I made one of the pom poms.  This is not a tutorial.

First I started off with a pom pom maker and wrapped and layered the yarn around the ring.  I added this picture in because I know some of you were curious on how the pom poms were made.  It's basically all done with layering different colored yarns.

Once I cut the yarn off the pom pom, it looked like this.  In most craft books it would say, trim down to an apple shape.  The reality is it's all about trimming and finessing.  When you see that perfect project in a craft book or blog, chances are there was some finessing involved.


Big difference from the last picture, right?  Here's where the finessing comes in.  First I did trim the pom pom down to an apple shape.  But then I realized that where the red and white met on top needed to have more of a widow's peak shape.  Since the white part was receding too much, I had to trim down the white yarn much more than the red. Then I combed the red forward to overlap the white a little.  I also had to trim the white yarn on the sides shorter than the red.   Besides that, the seeds were too big.  I had to cut out quite a few of the brown strands and push the white yarn over some of the brown yarn.  While I was doing all this trimming, the white yarn was getting all over the red yarn and I had to keep picking it out.

Any time I follow a craft tutorial I assume there will be finessing involved and make adjustments accordingly.  Curious, do you strictly follow the directions or do you modify the project as needed?


14 comments:

LimeRiot said...

How cute!! I'll have to go back and check out your earlier post about this pom-pom book. I must have missed it.

My level of crafty confidence in a certain skill usually dictates how closely I follow patterns. If it's something I'm comfortable with, I'll usually color outside the lines. If it's something I'm still new at, I follow pretty precisely.

zakkalife said...

Lime Riot,

You just reminded me that I was going to link to that post in case anyone missed it. Thanks, I'm going to update it right now.

Thanks for answering the question too :)

Hoppin' Up said...

Follow instructions? Are there actual instructions that come with the pictures? Who knew! Hehehehehe! I usually just look at the pic of the end result and do my thing. Which comes in handy since I also love Japanese craftbooks. Crochet books are my thing, but sewing is cool too!

JustHeather said...

Like LimeRiot, it depends on the situation and project at hand if I follow the directions or not. Sometimes to a T and others times not so much. :)
I love the pom-pom. I should find where my pom-pom makers are and make some.

Ginger said...

To sweet add green yarn it would look like a apple. Love your tutorials Lord Bess you.

zakkalife said...

Maaike,

He,he, I do that too.

Amanda Perl said...

I only sort of follow the directions for anything and only if it's a new project, less so if it's a material I'm good with. Except origami. I'm very precise with directions and origami.

Joy said...

Aaah! I love it!

Joy said...

PS. As a former teacher, I should be better at following directions... I always end up putting my "spin" on things. :)

tamdoll said...

This is so cute. I rarely follow all the directions unless it's something completely new to me - or I mess up my first try - then I'll go step-by-step. I'm usually so impatient, when I see a project with directions, I like to jump in as quickly as possible!

Yarny Days said...

This is adorable. What a great idea...

Unknown said...

Awwww, that is so cute. I need to look into this more. Your apple turned out really well :)

Unknown said...

I love it!!!

Ginger said...

Thank you for stopping by big hugs

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