We have two family weddings coming up this summer and I just finished sewing a little silk purse for the first bride-to-be to carry at the reception. It's a gorgeous fabric that I really wanted to let speak for itself, but the purse did need a bit extra. Enter yo-yos.These are just circles of fabric where a narrow hem is folded and secured with a running stitch; the thread is then pulled to gather the outside of the circle. Most yo-yo projects have a down-home look which I knew would be a jarring contrast to the fabric. Nevertheless, I tried making a few in the silk and added vintage buttons to the centers. The result absolutely blew me away!
There is no shortage of tutorials and project ideas floating around the Internet, so I'll just mention a few things I found helpful. If you have a good eye, you don't really need to mark the fold line, but I knew I would be happier if I did. I found that keeping the running stitch very close to the fold gave me better looking gathers. I knotted my thread ends together to gather up the fabric, then trimmed them not-too-close and added a drop of fabric glue. After it was dry, I trimmed them shorter. This doesn't seem to be the typical method, though, and the knot might show if there were no embellishment in the center.
Now, of course, I have to wonder about knit yo-yos. I have no doubt they can be made, but I don't know how practical they will be. Well, I'm going to find out!
Until then . . .
