Fun Fabric Yo-Yos | Family Economics

By Cathe

In grade school, one of our holiday crafts was a darling holiday wreath crafted from little sewn yo-yo's, each stuffed with one cotton ball, and strung together into a circle. I could hardly wait to get home to make more. I remember thinking how “cutting edge” these little stitched circles were until over the years I discovered that fabric yo-yo’s were made long before my time for many projects such as bed quilts dating back to the 1920s.

Fabric yo-yo’s are simple dimensional pieces created by folding and stitching the edge of a circle-shape piece of fabric and are a great craft to tote along for those on-the-go projects. Most fabric yo-yo creations are made from multiple fabric patterns and colors married into one collective piece. However, some pieces are made from only two or three colors or patterns. Fabric can be store-bought, thrifted, re-purposed from clothing, even inkjet printable fabric sheets with your own custom pattern design. Finished yo-yo’s can be laid out and connected to show either the flat or cinched side or a combination of both.

Here is how to make your own fabric yo-yo’s:

1.  First, make a template from any cardstock such as the back of a note pad or product box.

2.  To make the template, draw a circle twice the size plus a ¼-inch of the finished yo-yo.

3.  Trace around any round item such as a drinking glass, or standard school compass to create your circle.

4.  Use the template to trace circles onto the back of fabric to trim out.

5.  With a needle and thread, knotted at the end, fold and stitch the outer edge of the circle inward.

6.  The tighter the stitching, the wider the finished center hole. The looser the stitching, the tighter the hole.

7.  Cinch fabric tight and tie off thread.

8.  Press flat and sew individual yo-yo’s together with a few small stitches to connect.

Here are just some of the sweet projects made by combining fabric yo-yo’s.

•    Decorative Garland
•    Small quilt wall hanging
•    Pillow covers
•    Decorative trims for clothing and linens.
•    Pin-back brooches clustered to resemble flowers
•    Tiny rosette prize ribbons with added button-bling center
•    Clusters of various sized yo-yo’s can be stitched together to create a necklace
•    Hair clip adornment
•    Wreath ornaments (like the one I made with cotton ball stuffing)
•    Fabric doll body and limbs (when strung together like tall stacks of pancakes)
•    Tote bag adornments
•    Scrapbooking and Collage embellishments

Have you ever made fabric yo-yo’s? If so, what was your best creation?