How to Make a Whisk Broom: For Beginners (With Video Instructions)

I’ve always been drawn to old ways of making things, the crafts that have been largely made obsolete by mass machine production. Everyday items that used to be made with real craftsmanship. Brooms are one such item that we all have in our home, yet like to store away in a closet, because they tend to be an unaesthetic green and made of metal and plastic. But what if we could make our own beautiful brooms? Seems hard, right? Well it’s not! It is actually quite easy and a great craft for beginners. By starting small, you’ll be honing the skills it takes to make one you can use all around the house. But don’t think that small whisk brooms aren’t useful. They are the perfect size for sweeping off your counter after baking or making dinner, or to use for craft clean up in your sewing room. 

Another reason I love homemade brooms is that you get to use natural and biodegradable materials such as broom corn and waxed hemp cord. This means that when you’ve worked your broom to its end, you can compost it or dispose of it in another natural manner. If you’re using your broom for less practical purposes like decorating, they will last forever. Plus they really do make the perfect sustainable holiday and seasonal decor. Use them as a gift topper or as the gift themselves. Anyone receiving one of these will be blown away that you made it! 

Video and Picture Instructions:

Wrap about six yards of hemp cord around your large dowel. Then place the dowel at your feet. While you wrap, you will use your feet to hold the dowel in place, in order to keep the cord taught while wrapping the broom handle. Knot the end of the cord.

Starting with a bunch of broom corn that measures about an inch across. (See pictures for reference). Place the knotted end of your chord within your broom corn bunch towards the middle of the bunch. The broom corn is fibrous and will keep the knot in place. 

Now, start to wrap the handle from right to left, turning the broom corn bunch toward you. Make sure you’re wrapping nice and tight and that there are no gaps between the cord. You can play with the design of the handle. I did a couple of large gaps for the aesthetic.  

Once you only have an inch left to wrap, it’s time to add your hanging loop and finishing loop. For the hanging loop, simply take a 5” long piece of hemp cord, place the cut ends on either side of your broom, and lock in while wrapping. For the finishing loop, place the finishing loop unknotted side towards the top of your broom handle and lock in while wrapping. The length of the handle is completely dependent on your preference, but I made mine about 4” long. 

Continue to wrap until you’ve reached your desired length. Then, keeping the cord in place with your thumb so it doesn’t unravel, snip the end, feed it through the finishing loop and pull downward, fast and hard to secure the cord under itself. Snip any remaining cord so that it has a nice finish.

With a sharp straight edged blade, cut the remaining broom corn off the top of your handle to create a clean finish. You can stop here, trim the broom corn on the bottom and be done, or you can stitch your broom. 

If you are stitching your broom, start by sandwiching your broom between your two small dowels, (or whatever you have on hand) and rubber band them together. Fan out your broom to your desired shape. Place one rubber band around the broom where you’d like to put your stitching. This will act as a guide. Thread your large needle with your hemp cord and knot the end.

Stitch from the back to the front on the bottom side of the wrapped row. Then, from the front, stitch to the back crossing over the row so that you catch the row and secure it into place. Repeat. 

After you’ve done your double stitch, feed your needle through the back of your broom to the next spot you want to put a stitch. You will repeat this process until you have four double stitches

Once you’ve finished both rows of stitching, lock in the end of the cord by feeding your needle through the broom corn and pulling taught. Snip the end and hide within the broom. Trim the end of your broom with scissors so that it’s symmetrical.

Congratulations, you’re done! Now you have a beautiful whisk broom. 

Helpful Tips

1. I like waxed hemp cord, because it is more natural, but for beginners using a synthetic cord can be helpful as it won’t break as easily. This allows you to pull harder as you wrap.
2. Don’t feel like you need to stitch your broom. There are plenty of styles of whisk brooms that are not stitched, and it will make the broom process even more beginner friendly
3. If you choose to stitch your broom, you may find that the needle can be hard to pull through the broom corn. To help with this, you can buy one of these rubber needle pullers to help you get a good grip on the needle. This will also help keep your fingers from getting sore while stitching.
4. Any rubber bands will work as guides for when you stitch your broom, but the wider it is, the better. I find they that they are more likely to stay in place, which makes them a better guide.
5. If you don’t have access to a broom clamp (the two pieces of wood used to keep the broom corn in place while stitching) you can use many household objects. Try using two rulers, two wooden spoons, or anything that resembles and can act like as a clamp.