I know that this is nowhere near a new concept, but when the idea came to me, I felt so innovative! I guess if there are any differences between this design and many of the items utilizing yo-yo’s out there, is this is a bit more modern looking. Sometimes, yo-yo’s can look a bit “country”, but I think with the colors (yellow and grey), and the asymmetrical pattern, this table runner will have a proud place in my home. Ok, so maybe I’m kidding myself. Maybe it’s just the nature of yo-yo’s to look “country”. Oh well. I still love how it turned out!
I haven’t made yo-yo’s before, but I found them really easy to make. This project could easily be done in one afternoon/evening. All you have to do is find circles of various sizes around your house (I used 4). You can use plates, bowls, cups, etc…anything that you can easily trace around. Cut out several circles of each size from scraps of leftover fabric.
To make the yo-yo’s, start with the back side of the fabric facing up. Fold an edge of the fabric over 1/8-1/4 inch. Sew by hand with thread knotted at end, using a running stitch.
Do this around the whole edge of the fabric, until you return to where you started. Turn yo-yo right side out.
Pull each end of thread tight, and tie together in a knot, and trim.
Basically, that is it. If the yo-yo doesn’t lay flat, you can always iron it. One thing that I found with the yo-yo’s is the running stitch does not have to be super small and uniform. In my littlest yo-yo’s I did use a smaller stitch because if I didn’t there wouldn’t be enough gathers. But in my larger yo-yo’s, the longer stitches actually looked better…the small stitches created too many gathers. So if you are one of those people who have some extra time on your hands (and seriously, who does these days…), then experiment with your stitch length and find the one you like the best.
To make the runner, gather all your yo-yo’s and begin to place in a pattern that you like. Mine really was a lack of a pattern. I just didn’t want two yo-yo’s of the same fabric next to each other. Once you have place them, sew each together in the place that they touch. You don’t have to sew a long area, just a few stitches to tack them together should be fine. Repeat this step with every yo-yo.
I haven’t made yo-yos before either, but I really like this. I can picture a couple tall candlesticks in the middle of your table with this.
Cute!