yo-yo necklace tutorial

Okay, I have finally gotten around to finishing another necklace and getting pictures of the process. Sorry for the long wait. Hopefully this tutorial is helpful and the wait was worth it. Ready? Here we go:

Step 1:
I never can tell exactly what I will use until I start making some yo-yo's and putting them together. This just gives you a starting point. I obviously didn't use all these and I ended up going to my stash and finding a few different ones to add in once I could tell where I was going with the colors.
Step 2:
Look around your house to find some different circles you can use to trace. I like having all my yo-yo's a little different in size but you can do whatever. Take note that your finished product will be about half the size of the circle that you trace.
Step 3:
This bowl is about 7 inches and my yo-yo turned out to be 3 inches. It was my biggest one. It is on the verge of being too big but I kept it anyway.
Step 4:
I just use a pen to trace my circle. It won't show later.

Step 5:
Step 6:
Important note: The further apart you do your stitches, the tighter circle you will have. If you do small stitches, you will have an opening in the middle of your yo-yo. If you aren't putting a button or something in the middle you want to make sure you make your stitches bigger. Here is a good tutorial on how to make a yo-yo.

Step 7:
You will have to flatten and pull out the sides of the circle to get your shape just right.
Step 8:
I don't care what the back looks like so I just tie it off this way. If the back is going to show, you can just make small stitches in the front to tie it off.

Step 9:
Once you have all your yo-yo's made, arrange them so that they look good. I think this is the hardest part. You want to make sure you kind of curve them so you don't end up with a rectangle look. I just laid my design on the felt then roughly cut around it. Then I hot glued all the yo-yo's in place starting with the middle and working out.

Step 10:
Step 11:
I don't know anything about jewelry making and chains and such. I happened to notice these in Walmart and decided they would look good for my necklace. They are super cheap feeling but I don't care. I'm not a jewelry snob---heck, my necklace is put together with hot glue!

Step 12:
Step 13:
I took out about 4-5 links on each side I think. So probably about 10 total. You will have to just try on your necklace to know how long you want it. You can always take links out later just above where you stitched on the end link.

Step 14:
I don't love this one as much as my first. I think the orange one is too big. I made the shape a little different. I was having a hard time finding just the right fabric. I was limited to my stash so I had to go with what I had on hand. Oh well, it is still fun and cute and whenever I wear my necklace someone always comments and asks if I sell them. hmmm....maybe I should?....except my work is too sloppy to be selling it.