Fabric Yoyos

The first time I saw a fabric yoyo was during the early 1970s when I was in college. One of the students had a vest made of yoyos. It was really cool -- and a little hippy-ish. I asked her how the vest was made, and she briefly explained to me how to make a fabric yoyo.

Apparently fabric yoyos have been around for at least 100 years. They may have come originally from the Philippines, but in the 1920s started to be used in quilts in the U.S. Here's a marvelous pdf file explaining the history of the fabric yoyo and how it is used in quilts:

http://www.museum.state.ak.us/QuiltExhibit/quiltspdf/YoYo.pdf

Yesterday I saw a cross-stitch pattern from Waxing Moon Designs with several fabric yoyo embellishments (thanks Eileen!). It's called "Take Thyme." If you find this pattern and don't have the embellishments, you can make them yourself. They are really easy. Here is a web page explaining how to make a fabric yoyo:

http://www.cddesigns.com/YoYo/how.htm

Now if I could find an origami yoyo my day would be complete!