Clover Quick Yo Yo Makers!

Last week, I finally got some of the Clover quick yo yo makers! I have had a heap of fun trying them out and thought I'd let you know what they are like. I bought the extra small circle, small circle, small butterfly and small flower. I got them from Amazon.com because they worked out to be almost half the price of buying them in store or online in Australia. It's ridiculous how cheap stuff is from the US!

Here is a pic of the circles. The extra small one is really tiny!! After trying these out, I think I'd like the medium size too. I've made the standard circle yo yo's before with only a cardboard circle template and it worked ok but these quick yo yo makers make it much less fiddly for the circles. I still found it a little fiddly to get it sitting the way I wanted at the end but I thought the stitching part was much easier...and the cute little guides just make it fun! ;-) My first few turned out pretty well but I felt like it took me a few to really be happy with them and get the hang of it. I think it's definitely easier to make them in larger sizes. You also have to be careful to get the right tension when pulling it tight.

Below are the butterfly and flower. With the flower and butterfly, you actually sew 2 separate sections that gather up separately. They take a little more work but turn out quite cute! I did find it hard to get them to sit in a really good shape, especially the butterfly, but I guess it all depends how picky you are. I will definitely have to work on getting the butterfly to be a bit more even though. I pulled one side tighter than the other. I also found the instructions a bit confusing when it came to pulling up the gathering stitches for the butterfly but managed to figure it out ok.

Each yo yo maker comes with detailed instructions....VERY detailed instructions! What you actually need to do is quite simple once you figure it out but it takes careful explanation to learn it that first time. I found the circle instructions were pretty easy and clear to follow and I just needed to go a bit slower with the flower and butterfly. After you do them all once or twice, you don't really need to follow the instructions though...unless you don't make them too often and forget. I'm sure I'll forget how to do the flower and butterfly! Here's a couple of pics to give you an idea of how detailed the instructions are.

The butterfly instructions.

The circle instructions.

I'm hoping to use mine on some hair clips with covered buttons and maybe on some gifts for friend's children. :-) My first order of supplies to make covered buttons is in the mail!! I can't wait for it to arrive!

Backs of the yo yo's, butterfly and flower.

If you would like to watch a video on how to use these, I've found one that show it well. This lady shows you pretty much every step and takes her time. When you're making them yourself, you can do it more quickly. She does finish it off a little different to the instructions but it works. :-)