Hooping Tip

I’d like to share with you one of the most helpful machine embroidery tips I have ever come across.  Somewhere it was posted on a sewing list, several years ago, though I can’t recall where. It is best demonstrated in person, but I hope you can figure it out from the pictures shown below.

Many find hooping to be very frustrating because it requires that four pieces to be centered and positioned exactly.   There are four pieces to stack: 

• 1. outer hoop
• 2.  stabilizer
• 3.  fabric
• 4. inner hoop

For successful embroidery, all four pieces be in perfect alignment.  Here is an easy way to accomplish this.

stabilizer, dishtowel, inner frame, outer frame, double sided tape

 1.  Mark fabric for placement. Check.  You do this anyway, right?

2.  Fold stabilizer in quarters to find the center.  Mark with a dot.  Not hard.

3.  Pin fabric design to stabilizer, matching centers.  Now that the stabilizer and fabric are pinned together, there are only 3  loose pieces to stack, this pinned piece and the two frames.

4. Place double sided tape to the bottom of the inner frame.  Be sure to tape all four sides.   The tape is placed so  that any excess beyond the width of the frame extends to the center, not to the outer edges of the hoop. The pictures do not show this very well, but look carefully.

Apply tape to underside of inner frame.

5.  Turn the frame right side up and set the the gridded template in place. Put your marked fabric on a firm, flat surface.  Place the frame over marked fabric with the tape side toward to fabric.   Align the grid lines with blue placement lines on the fabric.  Press firmly, binding the hoop to the fabric.

Now you have only two pieces to line up–the outer frame and the inner frame which is now attached to the fabric and stabilizer.

6.  Loosen the outer hoop screws for easier insertion of the inner to outer frame.  Then slide the outer/bottom frame under the stabilizer and gently press the frames together. 7.  Remove the template and the pin from the center.  Now you are ready to embroider. 

NOTE:  The  tape will hold for several hooping.  When the stickiness fails, just replace the tape.  

I hope you find this information to be useful.  Do you have any tips to share?