Dear Quilt Doctor,
In the decorating department at my favorite store, I’ve been seeing what my mom says are “yo-yos” stitched onto pillows and tote bags. I love how they look but I’m not a quilter. My mom refuses to show me because she says that’s how Grandma taught her to hand sew and she never wants to see another one as long as she lives. Can you tell me how they’re made?
Gina Cox
New Berlin, OH
Dear Gina,
I love adding yo-yos to my projects. They make fun flowers on tote bags or sewing kits. They aren’t hard at all, which is why lots of grandmas used them to teach kids how to sew. Maybe a little too aggressively in you mom’s case, however!
A yo-yo is a circle that has the edge turned under and secured with a running stitch. When you’ve completed stitching around the circle, you gather it up tightly so that you have small hole in the center with no raw edges showing. Some people like to press them with an iron but I tend to flatten them just with my hand to give them some shape.
Here are a few general tips that will make your life easier. The size of the circle you cut should be approximately twice the size of the circle you want to end up with. When you’re doing the running stitch around the edge, bigger stitches are better than smaller ones because they allow the fabric to gather a little more. After gathering, I like to take a backstitch over my knot so that it doesn’t pull out. When you want to stitch a bunch of yo-yos together, use small stitches that don’t show very much.
You can use anything to make your circle. Trace around a dish or make yourself a cardboard template from an empty cereal box. That’s how they did it in the old days! Your local quilt shop might have a die-cut machine that you can rent and that makes circle cutting really fast.
Last year I fell in love with a great Halloween fabric. After I stitched yo-yos from the fabric, I sewed enough of them together to fit on top of a pillow I’d picked up. A few stitches later I had the yo-yo mat anchored to the top of my pillow and on the couch! This is something you could do and you wouldn’t have to pay the top $$$ that you would at the store. Maybe you’ll be able to convince your mom to help you get started. Bribe her with lunch out.
Happy stitching …
QD
Begin to Stitch
Fold under 1/4" of fabric. Thread a hand sewing needle with sturdy, 100% cotton thread and knot the end of it. Take small, evenly spaced running stitches near the folded edge all the way around the circle.
Tighten the Thread
End your stitching just next to the starting point; don't cut the thread. Gently pull the thread end to gather the folded edge until it forms a gathered circle. The right side of the fabric will develop soft pleats as you gather the edge. Take a small stitch to hold the gathers in place, then knot your fabric and cut off the thread end.
Sew Yo-yos Together
To join yo-yos, place them with gathered fronts together. Using matching thread, whipstitch them together for about 1/2". Make rows of joined yo-yos, then sew together the rows in the same way.
More to check out:
Green Pinwheels
Four-Square Pillow
Dotty Stars |
