Yo-Yo Flowers on Tote BagsTutorial

Yo-yos make the prettiest embellishments! They can go on just about anything--the possibilities really are endless!What you need to make these lovely flowers, the ones that our brave grandmas made quilts out of, are just colorful scraps of cloth, needle and thread, and some cute buttons to make the centers.Really-- it's super easy to make a yo-yo flower!

First, I fold a 4" paper square in fourths and cut off the corner in a curve.  When you open it up, you will pretty much have a perfect circle.  Measure the distance from the inner corner to the outer edge of the folded square. Mark that same length several times radiating out from the same inner corner.  When you connect the dots, you should have a perfect curve.

Stitch all the way around the outer edge of the circle with a running or basting stitch by hand or machine.

Pull up the threads to gather the circle into a puff. Secure with a good knot.  I sometimes sew some of the inner raw edges of the circle together to pull them into a tight center.

 

Using several strands of thread in a contrasting color, or embroidery thread, sew the button to the yo-yo flower several times through the holes to make it 'look pretty'..as if it had already been sewn to something.

When sewing the button on the yo-yo flower, I  use three to four 18" pieces of thread at a time and then knot them together as one piece so I don't have to make so many stitches to sew on the button.  Don't sew the flower with button center on to the bag yet.

NOTE:  It's important to decide exactly how you want to arrange everything before you start ironing things down!  I iron stitch witchery tape to the back of ribbon or bias tape to make stems for my flowers and then when I know where I want them to go, I iron them on the bag.

I also iron wider stitch witchery to the back of fabric that I choose to make leaves out of.  I cut the leaf shapes out. To prevent fraying, I either iron them on and then outline them with fabric paint, or I edge stitch the leaves with a colorful zig-zag stitch (blanket stitch if doing it by hand) and then iron them on to the bag.

I usually find that it is best to iron the stems and leaves down first, and then stitch the flowers on.

After you have decided where everything should be placed, sew the flower to the bag. Use only one thread (two strands when folded in half)pulled through the needle and knotted at the end.

Sew through the cloth folds of the flower as close to the button as possible to hold the flower (with button already sewn on) on to the item you are embellishing. I try to make my stitches down in the tight folds of the flower so they don't show very much.

The last step is to outline the leaves and personalize the item with a name with fabric paint if you like and let dry.  (It's a good idea to practice first on paper!)  Sometimes, I just cut the leaves out with pinking shears and paint the edges with fray-check instead.

When you are done, you can stitch a piece of ribbon to the center where the stems meet, and tie it into a bow, so it looks like a bouquet if you like.