Introducing HugSandwich Embroidery and Cross Stitch Kits!

HugSandwich Embroidery Kit 

HugSandwich Bite Size Cross Stitch Kit

Each HugSandich Embroidery Kit comes with everything you need to stitch up your very own masterpiece!

Kits Include:

     Pre-Printed Cotton Fabric

     4" Wooden Embroidery Hoop
      Embroidery Needle
      Floss Card with all DMC Floss needed to complete design
      HugSandwich Illustrated Basic Stitch Guide
      Instruction Card
      Backing Paper
      Love

Cactus Embroidery Kit - pre-printed fabric, instruction card, floss card

Three designs to choose from: Doughnut, Cactus, and Swallow

Doughnut, Cactus, Swallow - stitched up

HugSandwich Bite Size Cross Stitch Kits include everything you need to stitch up your own Bite Size Pixel Princess!

Kits Include:

     6 Count Square of Aida Fabric
      4" Wooden Embroidery Hoop
      Embroidery Needle
      Floss Card with all DMC Floss needed to complete bite size pixel princess
      HugSandwich Illustrated Basic Cross Stitch Guide
      Instruction Card
      Backing Paper
      Love

Choose which Princess you want in your kit in either a ball gown or plain clothes

Bite Size Princess Ball Gown

Bite Size Princess Plain Clothes

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!

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!