Mommas Like Me: Fabric Yo-Yo Bracelet {tutorial}

I wish I could tell you I was going to show you how to sew a lovely little skirt or blouse today...but I'm not. When it comes to crafting I usually tend to stay far away from crafts that involve a needle and thread. Lets just say when it comes to sewing, I lack the necessary skills to make any article of clothing that someone would actually want to wear, including myself.

It kinda reminds me of the Cosby episode where Denise makes a "designer" shirt for Theo.

Yup, that would be exactly what my attempt at sewing an article of clothing would be like. So for the sake of us all, I decided to stick to something a little more simple. It still involves a needle and thread, but trust me if I can do it, you certainly can too.

I recently learned {thanks to a little google magic} how to make a fabric yo-yo. Now if you are like my son Carter and are thinking I made a real yo-yo out of fabric, then I'm sorry to say you are going to be very disappointed just like he was. This is what I'm talking about...

Fabric yo-yo's

Darling right?! I must say that after learning how simple these are to make, I've become slightly obsessed with them. You can do SO many cute things with them, but in this tutorial I'm going to show you how to turn them into a snazzy little bracelet!

Please excuse the messy background

I will try to explain this as simply as I can and hopefully it will make sense.

Materials needed:

Scrap fabric {check the remnant pile @ JoAnn's for a great bargain}

A round template a little bigger that 2" in circumference

Embroidery floss {or strong thread} that matches your fabric

Buttons and/or rhinestones

A needle

Scissors

A pen

Step One: Lay out your fabric and trace your template to make a circle {the size of your wrist determines how many yo-yo's you will need to cut out...mine required 7} then cut them out...

You can make yo-yo's in any size. The rule of thumb is that however large you want your yo-yo to end up you must start with a circle that is twice that size {if you want a 2 in yo-yo you need to start with a 4 in round circle} I wanted the yo-yo's for my bracelet to be roughly the size of a quarter so I started with a circle that measured a little over two inches like so...

Step Two: With the wrong side of the fabric facing up, use a running stitch and sew around the entire circle staying close to the edge like so...

You may want to keep the stitches a little closer

together than I did here {trial & error my peeps}

Step Three: With the needle still on the thread, pull the thread tightly so the fabric cinches together...

Flatten and shape the yo-yo then run the needle through the center and back a few times, tie off and your done...

If none of that made sense, check out this tutorial. You'll notice they show you two ways to make them, one with a finished edge and one with an unfinished edge. I opted for the easy route and did the unfinished edge since I would be covering up the center of the yo-yo with a button.

Step four: Once you have all your yo-yo's done, sew on your buttons or using a glue gun, glue on your rhinestones. {when using rhinestones you'll still need to use one button on the last yo-yo for the clasp}...

When using rhinestones, leave one of the end yo-yo's
without a rhinestone and use a button instead.
Kind of hard to see here but the one on the left has no
rhinestone on it and needs a button.

I chose buttons for all my yo-yo's

Step Five: Sew the yo-yo's together using a whip stitch...

Continue this step with all the yo-yo's till you get the desired length.

Step Six: On the last yo-yo, sew a small piece of embroidery floss onto the back of the yo-yo. This will be your clasp. Make sure the loop will fit over the button on the opposite side well...

And there you go!

You now have a cute little yo-yo bracelet to brighten up any outfit.

Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy!

I just LOVE this funky zebra one!

You can do SO many more wonderful things with fabric yo-yo's. I turned a few into hair clips by attaching a metal clip to the back with some hot glue like this...