Yo-Yo Tutorial

First off, trace and cut a whole lot of circles. I used a CD as my template. Blue Trail of Sorrow, (16 top bluegrass gems) was just dandy. How could anyone resist a song with a title like Cotton Eyed Joe or Cruel Willie or Owl Feather or Everybody Wants to Go To Heaven? I'm figurin old timey music suites this project, after all, making yo-yo's was all the rage in the 20's and 30's. It was (and is) a great way to make use of those scraps. Anyway, your CD will make a finished yo-yo just a little over two inches. Obviously any reasonably sized template will do. I think I may try some teeny tiny ones sometime.

OK, on to the next step. Just go right ahead and start stitchin! The hem in this photo is a little wide, but hey, as long as you're consistent, they'll be the same size in the end. Because you're folding the edge of a circle you'll need to ease in a few ripples here and there, but you certainly don't have to snip the edges or iron. Well, at least I don't.

Ok, now we've gone round the circle, so before you pull it tight, turn it right side out.


Don't pull the gathers too tightly or they won't have room to lay flat in the end.

And there we have it! Simply stitch your yo-yo's together in your desired pattern. You're going to start finding them very addictive, because they're fast and I should mention, very portable! Before you know it, you've got a great pile of cute little buttons to play with. It's a wonderful way of trying out different colour combinations. Oh, I should mention, there is no backing involved when you create a bed cover. I'm just working on small projects at the moment, pillows and such, so of course they will lay atop other fabric. Have fun and let me know if you give it a try.