Hoops and Yoyo

Hoops and Yoyo are characters from Hallmark cards, of all places. They also have a podcast and blog. I had the idea a long time ago to turn them into applique, but not the time or inclination to make it happen. However, in the course of teaching Sy to sew, I decided it would be a good, simple project for her to practice on.

The big advantages to having fleece as an applique material are that you don't have to finish the edges (it won't fray) and it doesn't show your stitches (if you match the thread). This makes is ideal for a beginner.


In fact, Sy did the template making (from coloring pages on the Hoops and Yoyo page), cutting, and most of the sewing on this one. She also did most of the piecing of the borders. Speaking of which, how perfect is that striped fabric border?

Instead of batting, we put a layer of white fleece in the middle so that it could be fringed and wouldn't require quilting in the middle.
It turned out really well, and it now belongs to the biggest Hoops and Yoyo fan we know.

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Recycling

Before: One favorite wool sweater with a giant hole in it plus one pair of pants with a disastrously and completely failed inseam



After: A throw pillow of marginal usefulness (but at least more useful than before :-)



Completely useless: Napping cat

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Silver Lining

Being laid off, while also waiting for parts for my apparatus at school, has its advantages - I have been working on a ton of projects I had been meaning to get to. Not just sewing: I cleaned out the file cabinet and digitized the CD collection! I have also been teaching my friend Sy to sew and waging War on Flannel. I've got so many projects running in parallel right now! Look for some finishes to start rolling out before the weekend!

Here is a picture of all the projects, in their various stages of completion, at once to tease you:

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