Prepping Your Embroidery Hoop

After you’ve finished transferring your pattern, you are ready to put the fabric in your hoop.

To begin, open your hoop and separate the front of the hoop, which is the part with the tightening mechanism, and the back of the hoop, which is just the wooden circle.

Place your fabric (pattern side up) on top of the hoop back.

Be sure to get your pattern centered.

Now, slip the top of the hoop over the fabric and the hoop back.

Note: Sometimes the fabric shifts a little during this step. If that happens, don’t worry. Just pull gently on the fabric until you are able to recenter your design.

Tighten the hoop and gently pull out any wrinkles in the fabric. You want to make sure the hoop is nice and tight.

Your fabric should be taut, and - if you flick the fabric with your finger - it should bounce back and sound like a drum.

It’s important to make sure your fabric is nice and tight. Loose fabric will result in a warped design.

Trim your fabric to about 2” on all sides of the hoop. This will help prevent you from accidentally snagging and stitching the edges of the fabric.