These simple, yet adorable flowers have been around for ages, and they have recently come back into style in a big way! They are great accessories, and look cute adorning headbands, bobby pins, alligator clips – even on clothes and bags!
Yo-yo flowers are super quick and easy to make, and they’re a great project for beginners. Try stacking them for a fun look, and get creative by using them to embellish napkin rings, t-shirts, decorative pillows, picture frames, or gift bags!
Materials:
-Paper (can be scrap paper)
-Pencil
-Needle
-Scissors
-Strong thread
-Fabric
-Button or beads
Optional to create “slide-on” back for the yo-yo flower:
-felt
-fabric glue or hot glue
Directions:
Trace a circle on a sheet of paper – this will serve as the pattern template for your yo-yo flower. Any size circle will work, just keep in mind that the pattern circle you make should be at least twice as big as you want the finished yo-yo flower to be. For example, I traced a 5 3/4″ diameter circle for this tutorial, and the finished flower was 2 1/2″ in diameter. If you don’t feel comfortable free hand drawing the circle for the pattern, try tracing something circular onto the paper – soup cans, cup rims, bottles, jars – there are tons of items around the house that can be used!
Cut the circle out.
Trace the paper circle onto the wrong side (the back) of your chosen fabric. Cut the circle out. Hold fabric face down (wrong side up) and fold back the right side of the fabric, about 1/8″ – 1/4″ folded back (see picture below). Use strong thread to make small gathering stitches (long stitches that aren’t tight), working your way around the circle.
When you’ve stitched around the entire circumference of the circle, pull the gathering stitch you just sewed, which will gather the center of your yo-yo into the middle of the circle.
Add a few stitches to secure the yo-yo, and cut your threads. Sew a button (or anything decorative you choose for the center) into the middle (covering up the hole), making sure to sew all the way through the yo-yo to secure everything into place. Congratulations! The flower is complete!
Now you can use it to accessorize anything you choose. You may want to use the yo-yo flower as a hair accessory – keep reading below to learn how to add a “slide-on” to your flower that will allow it to simply slide on to any headband or hair clip, so that you can use your yo-yo in a variety of different looks. By using this easy slide-on, you can change up the way you wear your yo-yo and switch it between any of your hair accessories, without having to permanently attach it to anything!
You’ll need a small rectangular piece of felt (smaller than the yo-yo you plan on attaching to) – for example, for the 2 1/2″ finished yo-yo that I created for this tutorial, I used a 1 1/4″ x 1 3/4″ rectangle of felt.
Fold the felt rectangle in half lengthwise, and cut two small slits large enough to slide your clips/headbands through – see picture below.
With hot glue or fabric glue (my personal favorite is Liquid Stitch), glue around all four sides of the rectangle, but do NOT put any glue in the center. Glue on to the back of your yo-yo flower.
When the glue is fully dry, your flower is ready to slide on to any clip or headband you choose.
My grandmother used to make pillows, clown dolls and quilts out of these yo-yo flowers. I have fond memories of her table covered with fabric circles. I never took the time to learn how she did these and now with your tutorial I can ! Thanks Jacki, for taking me back to a happy time.
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