Vintage-style Yo-yo Brooch

I bought a yo-yo maker made by Clover a few months ago.  After going through my VAST fabric stash, I found fabric pieces dating back to my first dress in the 70's that were too small to use for quilting but were perfect for yo-yos. 

I had never made yo-yo-s before, mainly because I didn't feel like cutting out all of those circles and trying to make them all the same size.  This yo-yo maker is great for that.  (BTW, these are my personal opinions, just as a consumer.)  This one is for the large-size yo-yos.  They are about 1 1/2 inches in diameter when complete.

You just pop your fabric in and trim away the edges.  As you can see in the photo above, there are slots for stitching.  Couldn't get any easier than that! 

Here is a selection of some of the 200+ that I have made.

After stitching so many, I wanted to make something out of them.  I have had a light blue cardigan sweater for years but never wore it because it always needed something else.  I decided that a yo-yo brooch would add the vintage look that I wanted. 

The fabric in this brooch is leftover from projects that I made when my children were small.  The blue and white striped fabric with the pink hearts is from Amanda's crib set (comforter and crib skirt) and the blue and white striped seersucker is from a pair of summer overalls I made for Blaise.  The other blue fabric, with musical notes on it, was from something I made for one of my sisters, as they are both musicians.  Can't remember what the project was though!

I stitched the yo-yos to a piece of white felt and added the center pearls.  Next I stitched a piece of leftover lace to the edge to complete the look.

This is the back.  Since this is for me, I didn't add another backing to hide my stitches.

I pinned it to the cardigan with a safety pin so I can remove it to wash the sweater.    I've had a number of compliments the few times I have worn it.

Now, what to do with all of those other yo-yos???

Happy Crafting!

Kathy