Who Are You Callin' a Yo-Yo?!

Let me first apologize for being MIA yesterday. For those of you not keeping track, today marks 3 WEEKS of constant togetherness and joined-at-the-hipness for the mini monograms and I. Don’t get me wrong, It’s been *nice* and all, but I could not get them out the door and dropped off at pre-school fast enough this morning. But then on our drive to pre-school, would you believe it was snowing. SNOWING?! I’ve been wearing flip-flops in January and all of the sudden we are having massive amounts of snow blowing around and STICKING to the ground? As you can probably imagine, my chest started feeling a tad tight and I found myself hyperventilating while trying to see through the blizzard dumping on us this morning, worried that we would be turned away at pre-school and sent home for a so-called “snow day.” It did not happen, thank the lord. Needless to say, MOMMA NEEDS A BREAK. And if I wasn’t so dog-gone exhausted believe you me I would be doing a nice little jig over here.

Instead of a jig, though, I decided to sit down and try something I’ve never done before. Ribbon Roses and Rosettes. I have no idea how or why I got this idea into my head, but I will say this is something very easy and relaxing to do while you’re sitting around watching TV. Don’t fancy yourself a sewer? Well my friend, all you need for this one is a simple needs and thread and even if you think you are made of all thumbs, I promise you can do this.

Supplies You Will Need:
-about12” of ribbon (give or take.. can be as short or long as you want, depending on the size of flower you want)
-thread the color of your ribbon
-needle (I used a small embroidery needle)

Now, I hate to state the obvious, but don’t forget to knot one end of your thread. Thread your needle, and starting at one end of your ribbon, you just want to do a straight stitch from one end of the ribbon, all the way to the other, as I’ve done here. Don’t worry. I wouldn’t normally do this with a dark thread on a pink ribbon. However, for demonstration purposes, I thought it would be a tad easier on the eyes to see.

When you get to the opposite end of the ribbon from where you started, don’t knot it yet. Instead, you want to gently pull and gather the ribbon so it will ruffle. Note: Pull gently so as not to break your thread. Trust me, this can happen. So after you’ve gathered your ribbon by pulling the thread and scooting the ribbon along a tad to help it along, you will see that your thread is longer on that unfinished end. Now you can knot it to keep it gathered and looking pretty as it is.

You can probably tell that your ribbon as started to naturally roll in, as you gathered it. And that’s pretty much all you want to do. Roll a little, then do a little stitch to secure it on the botton/backside as I have done here. Then turn a little more, do another stitch. And so on and so on. Now, a little tip. The tighter you turn, the tighter and taller your flower is going to look. It will look more like a rose bud than anything else. But what I started to figure out, was the looser I rolled it and just kept turning it around a little looser and gradually getting wider , then the more relaxed my flower looked.

So here is my finished product. Not bad for my first time, huh? But as I said, next time I will use a narrower and shorter ribbon, and roll it loser so it sits flatter. I know these little things seem useless. But really, they’ve got tons of uses! Adorn a pretty package with them, sporadically sew them onto a cute but plainer looking apron to prep it up a little, or sew on the pocket of a plain white or pastel t-shirt for a little girl. I’ve seen these on pillows and blankets and hair bands and also used as pins. Heck, why not get started on some home-made ornaments for next Christmas? These would really look adorable hanging on your preppy ribbon themed tree. Yeah, it’s a little more kitschy than I usually go for, but I do think using a cute and preppy little grosgrain ribbon really makes it a little more universal.

Now, there is still another version of these that you can make with either grosgrain as I’ve done, or with fabric. The infamous Heather Bailey is a real pro at these, and even fashioned a super cute and colorful garland out of her fabric rosettes which she calls yo-yo’s. In the old days, they used to make quilts out of these little circle of fun, but as I mentioned before, you can pretty much do anything you want with them.

First of all, make your yo-yo pattern twice as large as you want the actual finished product, and don’t forget about ½” for seam allowances. Break out your grade school compass or pick up a lid or can to trace. It’s best to make your pattern out of cardboard (like the thin cardboard from a cereal box).Next, trace around your pattern using a water soluble pen on the wrong side of the fabric. You can pick this pen up at a craft store or a sewing store like Hancock Fabrics. Then cut out your circle of fabric along the line.

Fold ¼” under along the edge of your circle and stitch close to the edge with sturdy thread. Note: shorter stitches make a larger, more open center on your yo-yo and longer stitches make a tighter looking yo-yo.
After you’ve finished stitching along the entire perimeter of your circle, gently pull your thread until the edges gather at the center. Make a few stitches to secure your gathered ends together, knot, and trim your thread. With the gathered centered on top of the yo-yo, squash it flat and that’s it! You’re done!