Framing in an Embroidery Hoop

You've just finished your embroidery/cross stitch masterpiece! Congratulations!

What's next?

You'll want to frame it, of course, so you can share it with everyone. Standard frames are always a nice option, but their prices are not always nice. A cheap, easy, and adorable option is to frame your masterpiece in an embroidery hoop.

Items needed to frame in a hoop:

• Embroidery/Cross Stitch Masterpiece
• Hoop that fits your masterpiece
• Felt
• Pencil
• Needle
• Heavy Duty Thread
• Scissors
• Craft Glue

Items needed to frame in an embroidery hoop

First things first, iron your masterpiece! You do NOT want to go to all the work of framing it without ironing out all the wrinkles. Trust me on this.

Step Two: Take the inner hoop and trace around it on the felt. Cut out your felt circle and set it aside for later.

*Side Note* If you want to decorate your hoop, do it now! Paint it, wrap it in ribbon, whatever you want! Just make sure it's dry before putting your masterpiece in it.

Step Three: Put your masterpiece in the hoop. You'll want the screw at the top, so make sure it's centered nicely. Pull the fabric until it's taut and tighten the screw. Repeat until the fabric is as taut as can be and the screw is nice and tight. Good job!

Step Three: Fabric is taut, screw is tightened. Good job!

Step Four: Get out your needle and thread, it's time to sew! You'll want to use a heavy duty thread to help you with this part. If you don't have any heavy duty thread on hand, just double up on whatever you have handy. Cut your thread long enough to go around your hoop twice. Make a big knot in the end of your thread. Using a large running stitch, stitch around the hoop about 3/4" away from the hoop.

Step Four: Large running stitch around the hoop. I realize now that using WHITE thread was not such a good idea. Sorry!

Step Five: Trim your fabric close, but not too close, to your running stitches. Was that vague enough?

Step Five: Trimmed fabric. Job well done! 

Step Six: Take the loose ends of thread and pull them tight. When it's good and tight, tie the ends together. Looking good!

Step Six: Pull threads tight and tie them in a knot.

Step Seven: We're almost done! Remember that felt circle we cut out earlier? Yeah, we're going to need that now. Take your felt circle and glue it to the back of the hoop with your craft glue. Let it dry. Seriously, this part is important!

Step Seven: Glue your awesome felt circle to the hoop with some craft glue.

Step Eight: You've made it, we're done! Enjoy your masterpiece! Give yourself a pat on the back for a job well done.

Step Eight: Enjoy your hard work! 

Piece of cake, right? Now go - craft, create, and frame everything you make!

The War Doctor

Just recently we lost a brilliant actor, Sir John Hurt. He was in some of my all time favorite movies and shows. He was in a little show called "Doctor Who". He might not have been in very many episodes, but he played one of my favorite Doctors - the War Doctor. Here's a free pattern of the War Doctor to stitch up in his memory.

"Great men are forged in fire, it is the privilege of lesser men to light the flame."

The War Doctor - Cross Stitch PDF Pattern

To Hoop Or Not To Hoop

To hoop or not to hoop...that is the question. It's a very important question and I've been asked it before. But, to be honest, I've never really been sure how to answer it. When it comes to cross stitching I hardly ever use a hoop. However, if I'm going to embroider something I will almost always use one. So, how to answer that question? Let's look at some pros and cons of using and not using a hoop and we'll go from there.

Pros:

• Keeps the fabric taut as you work 
• Helps keep your stitches even and consistent
• Basic wooden hoops are very cheap and affordable
• Hoops are portable and can be used anywhere

Cons:

• You will almost always have a ring left in your fabric from where your hoop was
• Floss will most likely get caught on the screw of the hoop
• Hoops can damage existing stitches
• Hoops that are not cleaned properly can leave dirt on your fabric

Now that you are aware of some of the pros and cons of using a hoop, let's talk about the hoops themselves. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes, as well as different materials. You can get anywhere from less than 3" to 11" or even larger. You can get circles, ovals, rectangles, and squares. They come in wooden, plastic, or metal. How will you ever know which one works best for you? My suggestion? Hold it in your hands. Does it feel comfortable? Can you easily reach the center of the hoop to work? If you answered yes to the previous questions then it's probably a good choice. Try it out. If you can't comfortably stitch in the center of the hoop, try a smaller size.

Here's a few things to keep in mind if you choose to use a hoop:

• Remove the hoop whenever you are not stitching
• Always keep the screw of the hoop on the opposite side of your thread to prevent tangling
• Ensure that your hoop is clean before every use

If you've never stitched without a hoop, give it a try. Who knows, maybe you'll like it!

Does Size Matter?

What size works best?

How do you know which count fabric to use? 14 count is the standard, and all HugSandwich cross stitch patterns are sized for 14 count. Does a HugSandwich cross stitch pattern still work for 11 count? 18 count? Any size? Yes! Every pattern can be used for any size fabric. The only difference will be the size.

6 count, 8 count, 11 count, 14 count, 16 count, 18 count, 20 count

How does sizing work? What does 14 count even mean? The number, or count, is how many stitches there are in one inch. So, 14 count has 14 stitches per inch. 20 count has 20 stitches per inch, etc. To make it simple, the smaller the number, the bigger the finished project. The bigger the number, the smaller the finished project. Here are a few examples of Clyde, the orange Pac-Man ghost, stitched on various counts of fabric for size comparison.

6 count, 14 count, 20 count

In this photo of Clyde we have 14 count in the middle. Clyde just so happens to be 14 stitches across, making him exactly 1" on the 14 count Aida. He is 2 1/4" across on the 6 count and he's approximately 3/4" on the 20 count.

6 count, 20 count

Here we have Clyde on the 6 count and on the 20 count just for comparison. So, does size matter? You decide.

How Many Threads Do You Need?

Have you ever wondered how many threads you should be using to stitch up a project? Standard cotton embroidery floss comes in six strands. It's meant to be pulled apart, the strands used separately. Do you know how many strands to use? Should you use only one? Two? Three? How many? There are so many choices! The standard for cross stitch is using just two strands stitched on 14 count Aida. I have stitched up an example using a variety of  strands. As you can see, using only one thread does not provide very much coverage. But there are times that using only one strand is useful. Doing back stitching, french knots, and fine detail work are all ideal for one strand. Two strands provides good coverage for standard cross stitches. You might want to use three strands if you are using a light color on a darker fabric (or a dark color on a light fabric), it provides more coverage so the color of the fabric doesn't show through as much. Three strands fills it out even more. When you use more than three strands you start to lose the details of the pattern. As you can see in the photo, the heart that I stitched with six strands has lost most of the detail, the heart is not as easy to see as it is with only two strands.
I had a very difficult time stitching with four - six strands. However, if you were using a larger count (6, 8, or 11) using more than three strands would be just fine. If you are stitching on a smaller count (18 or 20) using just one would also be just fine. But who am I to tell you how to stitch up your project. It's yours! So make it your way.