So Sam: DIY Yo Yo Button Hair Clips

December 10, 2013 / Little Yellow Couch

We are so excited to introduce our first guest post by our good friend, Sam O'Donoghue of So Sam! Also known as "the button lady," Sam collects vintage buttons from estate sales, antique fairs and thrift shops. She then creates one-of-a-kind jewelry, small sculptural items, shopping bags, clips and other projects that strike her fancy! For Little Yellow Couch, we asked Sam to come up with an accessory we could all wear to our end of year cocktail party. We introduced her to our partners at Fabric Place Basement and we all spent a morning looking through buttons and fabrics, mixing and matching until Sam was happy with the materials to make the three beautiful hair clips you see here. (I know, I know, there are four clips in the photo...I couldn't decide if I wanted to wear a big one or a little one so Sam made both for me!).

Sam O'Donoghue

Sam in her studio

Supplies

Fabric *
Buttons *
Hair clips
Needle and thread
Scissors
Yo Yo makers

* Our beautiful Fabrics and Buttons are from the Fabric Place Basement

To make a yo yo, you can use a yo-yo maker as I am doing here. Place the fabric wrong side facing you between the plate and the disc. Cut around the disc leaving 1/8" - 3/16" allowance. Cut two circles in different sizes (use 2 colors or patterns). I used the 7" size for the gold cloth and 3.5" size for the turquoise.

If you don’t have one of these simply cut a fabric circle using any template such as a cup or small plate.

Thread your needle and tie a knot. Stitch through the holes in the plate. If you are working without a yo yo maker simply fold over a ¼ inch and stitch around the outside close to the edge.

Remove the disc and plate and gather the thread. When the opening has closed tie a knot and cut the thread.

Don't worry if any thread shows as this will be covered by a button.

When you have created two different sized yo yo’s you can attach the button. Sew through the button hole and through the center of the two yo yo’s several times to secure them together.