Binding An Embroidery Hoop

How-To Bind An Embroidery Hoop

Posted by Mollie J.

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It's pretty common to see the outside of an embroidery hoop wrapped in adorable fabric, creating an embellished frame from the hoop itself. But have you ever wrapped the inside of the hoop? There's a very good reason to do this, and in this Technique Tuesday you'll learn how and why to bind an embroidery hoop.

Not all embroidery hoops are created equal, which is why inexpensive wood hoops especially can slip and not grip your fabric to hold it nice and taut while you stitch. And no one likes to constantly have to tighten the fabric or risk stretching it out. Binding your hoop solves this problem, even on flimsy hoops that otherwise cause troubles.

For my hoop, I'm making use of some printed twill tape that was part of some packaging. It's a great way to reuse something! You can also find this type of product by the yard with other ribbons and trims at your local fabric store.

This process of binding a hoop is easy, inexpensive, and with just a few minutes work you'll have a hoop that you can use again and again.

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You Will Need (5 things)

  • Wood Embroidery Hoop
  • Flexible Tape Measure
  • 1/2-inch Wide Twill Tape
  • Scissors
  • Needle And Thread

Steps (6 steps, 10 minutes)

  1. 1

    Supplies

    Wood Embroiderey Hoop
    Flexible Tape Measure
    1/2-inch Wide Twill Tape
    Scissors
    Needle and Thread

  2. 2

    Seperate the two pieces of the embroidery hoop. Measure the circumfrence of the hoop. Multiply this measurement by four. This is how much 1/2-inch wide twill tape you need.

    For example, this 4-inch hoop has a circumference of 13 inches. When multiplied by four, it means that it will need about 52 inches of twill tape.

    This is also a good time to prepare a needle and thread with a knot tied in one end.

  3. 3

    Begin wrapping your hoop with the twill tape, working at a slight angle and overlapping the tape so it holds the end in place. Be sure that you overlap each wrap so it's very tight.

    Also, each wrap should overlap a little less than half the width of the twill tape. If it overlaps too much, the wrapping will be very thick, and that's not what you want.

  4. 4

    When you reach the beginning of the wrapping, make sure that it meets and covers the starting point, then trim any extra twill tape off. You want the end of your twill tape to be on the inside of the hoop.

  5. 5

    Grab your needle and thread and stitch down the end of the twill tape to secure it. Stitch through all the layers of tape, working around the edge and on the end of the tape.

    Secure your thread with a large knot.

  6. 6

    Now your hoop is ready to use just as you normally would! You may need to loosen the screw a little more so there's room to push the outer hoop down over the fabric and bound inner hoop.

    I've found that larger hoops have a little more room and give when it comes to adding this "gripper" layer, but even my 4-inch hoop fits nicely now.