Yo-Yos

Today's post is dedicated to some of my favorite little things to make...yo-yos!! My love for the yo-yo goes back to when I was a little girl and I would go to my Grandma's house and watch her as she worked on a beautiful handmade yo-yo quilt. She was also known to sew yo-yos on her clothes whenever they got stained or got a hole in them. She had one particular denim dress that had several little yo-yos sewn all over it. She would giggle as we told her it was probably time to retire the dress. Now that I am kind of obsessed with yo-yos myself,  I can totally understand wanting to put them on anything and everything...even if it is just to cover up a stain =)

I'm going to attempt writing a tutorial on how to make a yo-yo using a yo-yo maker. This is the first time I've ever written a tutorial...so bear with me as I give it a whirl! I like to use this yo-yo maker because the yo-yo always turns out perfect and it's nice for projects where you want every yo-yo to look exactly the same. Of course, you don't need a yo-yo maker to make a yo-yo. All you need is some fabric, a needle, some thread, and a circle to trace. Here is a really well written tutorial on how to make a yo-yo without a yo-yo maker.



Start by putting the yo-yo maker on top of your fabric

 Cut around the yo-yo maker leaving about 1/4th inch extra fabric.

Make sure that the lines on the bottom piece are matched up with the notches on the top piece

Fold the excess fabric down as you sew and start your first stitch right beside a line. Sew from the bottom of the yo-yo maker to the top.

Keep sewing until you have gone completely around the yo-yo maker and then go back over the very first stitch. So the first and last stitch should be the same.

Pop the bottom out of your yo-yo maker

Take the fabric off the bottom part of the yo-yo maker and start pulling the thread. 

Keep pulling until it it is completely tight and looks like a yo-yo =)

Sew a couple stitches through the back of the yo-yo so it stays in place.

Cut the thread and your finished yo-yo should look like this

Here are a few things I've made with yo-yos to help get your creative juices flowing. I love yo-yo necklaces...here are a couple of different styles of necklaces I have made using yo-yos.

A simple yo-yo hair pin I made for myself

I glued some magnets onto the backs of some yo-yos and I use them to hold up pictures on a magnetic board in the crafting/playroom.

There are SO many other fun things you can make with yo-yos. I am in the process of making a yo-yo coverlet for Little Girl's bed...maybe one day I will actually finish it so I can share the finished project on here. Yay, I needed some motivation! Hopefully, you are now inspired to give the yo-yo a try!