Just back from a three-day conference (topic for another post), and I have been catching up with email all day.
Take a look at this! It seems that some ladies in France posted about my little free Heart YoYo Pattern on a PatchtoPatch discussion forum.
I can remember just enough of my four semesters of college French to realize how much I have forgotten of this beautiful language!
Then, someone posted about Google's translation service, and viola, my little blog is translated to French! WOW! I remain in awe of what is possible with the Internet!
Just this weekend, I was talking about French Hand Sewing techniques with a new friend at the conference. I even have at least one (French) Huguenot line, Estill. At a very recent program I gave on the History of Porcelain, I shared proper credit (and my personal admiration) to Sevres Porcelains (considered the world standard of porcelain standards). Very few folks know of my collection of Hermes scarves....and now this interest from some ladies in France in my little amateur pattern. I'm smiling all over! In the area of the Arts, (design, fashion, culinary, etc.) I am a decided Francophile.
Looking back at the couple of posts on the Free Heart YoYo Pattern topic, I see that I wrote instructions on top of the photos (using Photoshop CS2). The words on the photos were not translated into French by the Google service.
For the benefit of our new French readers, I would like to post the instructions originally published ON the photos to the text area (here) where it can be translated more easily.
1. Begin Here: Turn under fabric 3/8" (three eights of an inch). Baste with a long stitch. You can see that I cut out the heart with pinking shears to discourage fabric fraying. (This is certainly not necessary, but I do tend to be a bit obsessive compulsive with details, even on a fun little project like this. I hope that part translates well! Grin)
2. Stitch in two segments;
a. stitch one thread counter clockwise to the point of the heart. Leave a 2" (two inch) tail of thread and cut thread. This you will pull or gather later.
b. stitch the other thread in a clockwise direction. Again, leave a 2" tail of thread and cut thread. You will also pull or gather this strand of thread later.
(On the pattern, you can see the red basting stitch running counter clockwise and the blue basting stitch running clockwise.)
3. Pull both threads until you have a basic heart shape. Do not pull gathers so tightly that you lose the point of the heart shape. Mine resulted in an oval center. Tie two pull threads (gathering threads) together securely.
4. Note the location of the secret stitch marked by an X on the photo. Knot a piece of thread, insert needle through the center oval, and come out at the top of the heart in the X location.
5. From the next photo, you can see how to pull the thread up through the top of the heart, take a tiny stitch, and pull the thread back through the center gathers.
In the next photo, you can see the difference this tiny stitch makes in the shape of the Heart YoYo.
6. If you save the hand drawn pattern as a .jpg and then tell your printer to print it on a standard 8.5 x 11 inch page, it should come out to the original size that I used.
You can size the pattern on a standard photocopier to make larger or smaller Heart YoYo's.
7. The last part of text printed on the photo that prevented the Google translator from translating the words into French:
By downloading this pattern (printing this pattern), you are agreeing to the following conditions:
a. This pattern is for your personal use only.
b. You will not reproduce this pattern for sale
c. You will not sell products made from this pattern (claiming that you created the original pattern from which your product is made).
As always, if you want to share this pattern in some print media (magazine, newsletter, etc.), just email me to ask for permission. As long as you give proper credit and link to this blog, I will be happy for you to use this copyrighted pattern and photos.
To the ladies of Patch to Patch discussion forum: Thank you for honoring me by enjoying and sharing my simple little pattern and by translating my little blog into French.
I would very much like to see photos of how you use these Heart YoYo's in your sewing. There is so much that I would enjoy learning from you and your rich French heritage in the Arts!
Very soon, I will be sharing more FREE patterns, so please come back to visit. I look forward to seeing you again!
The Google translator works for other languages. The Craft Revolution is big in other parts of Europe, in Japan and in South America. Let me know if you are reading this in a language other than English!
I love this yoyo. The directions are great. My only question is how long is the heart from top to bottom? When I copy I can not get on a sheet of paper.
Thank you
Nancy in IN
Posted by: Nancy | November 17, 2009 at 10:33 PM
Thank you so much for a delightful tutorial. I must go and try this! Hugs :)
Posted by: Anne Baxter | November 17, 2009 at 10:51 AM
Thank you so much for your tutorial.
Two years after you first loaded the tutorial, crafters are still coming to your blog to learn from it. Today the link was posted to a large quilting list on YahooGroups - CyberQuilters.
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TA DA does it translate for 'voilà'?
TA DA [meaning there you are - finished] wouldn't fool an english language spellchecker into writing 'viola' for 'voilà!'
I hope this helps.
If the automatic translations are corrected by people who speak both languages the robots will learn the technical terms needed for the crafts we love.
Posted by: Diana | November 17, 2009 at 08:12 AM
I so want to learn how to make yoyo's.
do you make your own patterns?
Posted by: Grandmom | October 26, 2009 at 09:44 AM
Thanks for this, I have always wondered the secret of the heart. It's the magic stitch on top! Now I need to find the time to make that heart garland I dream about!
Posted by: mandy | January 27, 2009 at 07:31 AM
i'm french !
i'm discovering your blog and your lovely tutorials, this one is gonne be done this evening, i think ! :)
about automatic translators, that's less difficult to read in english than to try and understand the french translation ! :D
by the way, i don't know why but most bloggers tell 'viola' for 'voilà !' ;)
and now, i'm gonna look a little forward in your amazing blog...
Posted by: charlie pOp | February 25, 2008 at 09:25 AM
Love this tutorial, how darling cute they are! Great idea, so thanks for sharing!
Posted by: iHanna | February 07, 2008 at 12:40 PM
merci pour ce que vous donnez de votre savoir-faire!
claire
Posted by: Claire | August 26, 2007 at 04:34 PM
Hi Bettsi (Love the way you spell your name!) How did your Heart YoYo turn out? Do you have a photo? blog? Please share!
Posted by: Penny Sanford Fikes | March 18, 2007 at 10:32 PM
How delightful! Thank you, Miss Penny! I look forward to trying this. I think my little Hitty would enjoy something made with heart yo-yos!
Posted by: Bettsi | March 07, 2007 at 01:12 PM