How to make Yoyo appliqued fabric

You know yoyos – most sewists know. They know how to cut cute little circles and gather the edge to make cuter yoyos. You can attach these yoyos to fabric and make the most textured and interesting fabric. And this yoyo appliqued fabric is not made by just stitching the finished yoyos. Yes, that is one way of doing it, but when you make yoyo-fabric this way, it is as if the yoyos are a part of the fabric.

And it is beautiful. True, I am highly partial and say that about everything I make, but you can check it out yourself. You will fall in love with the yoyo fabric.

The yoyos are made by stitching the circles on the fabric first and then gathering it on the fabric.

Related post : How to make yoyos – 5 ways.

How to applique yoyos on fabric

Step 1

Cut a piece of fabric in the shape of a circle. And then many in the same size.

The size of the circle you cut for the yoyo depends on the size of the finished yoyo. It should ideally be twice the size of the finished yoyo you want plus 1/4 inch.

ie if you want a 2-inch yoyo cut out 4 1/4 inch circles. You can make the circles smaller and still have a 2-inch yoyo but the middle opening will be bigger.

Cut many different fabrics in a circle shape – the same size. I have taken a 3 1/2 inch circle.

Step 2

Cut out a template for a smaller circle – this should be the size of the yoyo you want.

Keep the template in the middle of all your circles, mark on the wrong side. This is your stitching line. The opening on the middle of the yoyo will depend on the size of this circle. I have taken a 1 3/4 inch middle circle shape. Mark this on all circles.

Step 3

Sew the circles on the fabric through the line you marked for the smaller circle. You can use a sewing machine or a running stitch by hand. Sewing by hand is anyday better and gives you a control but sewing with machine is way faster.

There are 2 ways of doing it – sew this step and the next step for each yoyo and then progressing on to the next yoyo circle or the other way – join all the circles and then atleast complete the gathering part.

Here I will show the first method – After the first circle is joined, Join the next circle so that the stitching line is lying quite close to the first circle’s stitching line.

You have to do this with all the circles.

When you reach the next row, make sure that the top edge and the side edge are aligning. With the first row, you only had to check the side edge.

Step 4

When all the circles are joined to the fabric, neaten all the extra threads etc.

Take up your hand sewing needle and thread; with the needle, turn the edge of the circle inside and stitch in place. (Same way that you do when you make individual yoyos). Use running stitches for this.

Pull up the thread to gather the edge. Your first yoyo is done.

Do this with all the yoyo circles. As all the yoyos are completed you will get a whole fabric appliqued with yoys.