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THE LATEST

Floral Garden Bunting Project: a Wrap-Up on the 2023 Stitch-Along

Fall Floral Embroidery Pattern: Calendula Wreath

“Embroideries From an English Garden” by Carol Andrews – Book Review

How to Finish the Back of an Embroidery Hoop For Framing

November 29, 2021      Anne      2 Comments

You’ve just placed the very last stitch on your embroidery project and now you wonder – what to do with the finished piece? Likely, a lot of hard work went into it, and it surely deserves a place of choice. There are many different ways to use and display embroidery pieces, and one of the easiest ways to do so is to simply leave it in the embroidery hoop. By neatly finishing the back of the hoop to hide the wrong side of the embroidery and encase all seam allowances, you can turn a useful embroidery tool into the perfect frame!

 

how to back embroidery hoop (without glue)

 

Embroidery Hoop as a Frame?

The “hoop art” look is not for everyone, and I’ll admit that I wasn’t the biggest fan of it when I first started embroidery. To me, the embroidery hoop was only temporary, a tool to help me as I embroidered, but nothing more. I much preferred framing my pieces in real frames. It takes a bit more time and it can get more expensive, but it looks really stunning and suits certain styles of embroidery a lot better. Over time though, I’ve come to appreciate a good hoop as a frame.

For one thing, embroidery hoops are generally much cheaper than traditional frames, and for another it really is easier to leave it in. The fabric is already all nice and taut, and the placement of the screw allows you to hang it on the wall very easily.

I also came across beautiful faux wood hoops recently, and they are definitely a wonderful option for displaying embroidery! Prettier than normal bamboo hoops, they are more made to be hung on the wall than to keep the tension even as you stitch. They come in different sizes and shapes too, and you can find some in Michaels stores.

 

How to Finish the Back of a Hoop (Without Glue):

Again, as with many things regarding embroidery, there are many ways to finish the back of an embroidery hoop. Some like to use hot glue, a piece of cardboard, felt, a piece of pretty fabric, etc… There are many options. I personally prefer to stay away from glue if I can, and use a needle and thread. My method is a bit lengthier than many I’ve seen, but I find it neater.

To show you how I do it, I’ll be finishing my Blackberry Branch project from my Venetia post in one of those faux wood hoops I mentioned earlier.

flat lay showing finished blackberry branch embroidery in finished faux wood hoop, with haberdashery items, vintage teacup and dried plants in the background

The easiest way to back a hoop without glue is to use a piece of felt. Felt doesn’t fray, so you don’t have to worry about raw edges and it’s quicker to sew to your hoop. But what if you don’t have felt, or you’ve ransacked your stash and can’t find a suitable colour? Yes, this is what happened as I was preparing this tutorial. I couldn’t find a decent piece of felt that I liked for this hoop, so I came up with a different way to finish the back. It’s a few extra steps, but it looks amazing!

 

The Tutorial

1. First, there are two measurements we need, from the inside hoop ring. Gently pull it out from your work (or if you happen to have a second hoop of the same size, use that one!) and trace around the outside on a piece of light cardboard or cardstock paper. Cut the shape along the line you just traced and set it aside for now.

inner hoop ring placed on piece of carboard for cutting with an arrow drawn to show to cut on the outside of the ring

 

2. The second measurement we need from the inside ring is optional. Since I’m finishing a piece of rather heavy embroidery because of the beads, I’ve decided to add another layer of fabric to the back. I traced the inside circumference of the inner ring on a piece of felt (the felt I deemed too bright to show on the back) and cut it out. We can also set it aside for now.

inner hoop ring placed on felt piece with arrow pointing to cut along the inside of the ring

 

3. Now we need to trim the hoop allowance of the main fabric to about a ½” seam allowance all around.

embroidery hoop seen from good side with lots of hoop allowance all around
embroidery hoop seen from the wrong side with proper seam allowance for backing

 

4. Once that’s done, flip the hoop to the wrong side and place the piece of felt inside the hoop if you’ve decided to add it.

embroidery hoop seen from wrong side with cut piece of felt placed inside

 

5. Then, run a gathering stitch (running stitch) around the seam allowance to gather it against the inner hoop. Secure your thread and snip.

close-up of running stitch being sewn all around hoop seam allowance
hoop seen from the back showing gathered seam allowance towards the inside of hoop

The raw edges of the main linen fabric will continue to fray and I don’t like leaving the gathering visible, so I will further cover the back.

 

6. Using the cut out piece of cardboard from Step 1, place it over a piece of decorative fabric of your choice, on the wrong side. Add ½” seam allowance before cutting the fabric.

close-up of cardboard backing placed on wrong side of fabric for cutting

Note: If you want to finish the back of your hoop with felt, you don’t need the cardboard or cardstock. Simply cut out the felt to the size of the inner hoop without seam allowance.

 

7. With an iron, press your cut out piece of fabric to make sure there are no creases.

 

8. Working on the wrong side, center the piece of cardboard on the fabric. Sew a gathering stitch around the seam allowance. Pull to gather around the cardboard.

close-up of cardboard over fabric showing where to place gathering stitches along seam allowance
view of cardboard and backing fabric from the wrong side with running stitch sewn all around the seam allowance
gathered fabric around cardboard shape for backing hoop

 

9. Once you’ve secured and snipped your thread, we are ready to attach this piece to the back of the hoop. To do this, we will whipstitch the cardboard-covered fabric to the gathered seam allowance around the inner hoop ring. Use matching thread or contrasting thread to create a nice border if you have confidence in your whipstitching abilities. 😉

unfinished hoop lying wrong side up with backing fabric-covered beside it, right side up
close-up of wooden spool of brown thread against embroidery hoop
close-up of needle whipstitching backing to the back of embroidery hoop

 

And the hoop is now fully finished with a beautiful back and ready to be hung on the wall! I like knowing that there’s a pretty back behind the embroidery, even though no one will likely see it haha! Which is funny because I have a very different attitude when it comes to the back of the actual embroidery…if it’s going to be hidden, who cares about a neat back? Lol.

flat lay view of finished embroidery hoop with fabric backing seen from the back, with haberdashery, a teacup and dried plants in the background
close-up view of finished embroidery hoop back to show the whipstitching all around

 

As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, there are many variations on how to close the back of an embroidery hoop. Instead of gathering stitches, you could use glue, just cardboard or cardstock and no fabric at all, just felt, etc. I don’t like using glue because I find it messier and knowing me I’d probably end up with an ugly glue smear all over my embroidery. I prefer to use needle and thread when I can, but using glue is not “wrong”. It’s certainly quicker! Note that it is harder to stitch over glued fabric. If you glue down your seam allowances instead of gathering them, it becomes harder to sew the back fabric to it if that’s how you wanted to finish the hoop.

I hope you found this tutorial helpful, and I’d love to hear your thoughts! Do you have a different method for backing your hoops? Glue or no glue? If there’s another way to back that you’d like me to cover, I’m very open to suggestions.

 

You Might Also Like:

embroidery success: 10 tips before you begin a project
how to transfer an embroidery pattern
how to start and end embroidery stitches

 

Fondly,

how to back embroidery hoop
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Kathryn J says

    December 7, 2021 at 4:31 pm

    Thank you for the tutorial Anne, it looks really lovely and very neat! Yes I would definitely stay away from glue. After spending so much time on a piece I really wouldn’t want it to discolour or degrade. I will pin this to come back to later! 🙂

    Reply
    • Anne says

      December 8, 2021 at 10:24 pm

      Aww thank you so much, Kathryn! I’m glad you agree with me about the glue. It’s definitely so much faster, but I’d be so scared to mess up my embroidery! I sometimes use it for smaller projects, but for a hoop like this one I just couldn’t bring myself to, haha!

      Reply

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Hello I'm Anne! Welcome to my little corner of the Internet where I share my passion for hand embroidery with you through tutorials and patterns. I hope that you enjoy browsing and leave with some new inspiration!

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~ Diary of a Northern Belle

Northern Belle Atelier is taking a break 🌸💖 Northern Belle Atelier is taking a break 🌸💖

Today (Feb. 09th) is the last day to place your order for any physical items in my shop (kits, needle minders, or finished works). I will be removing the listings over the weekend. PDF patterns will remain available for now, but they may be taken down at any time (so if you've had your eye on one, I suggest grabbing it before they're gone! 🥰).

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Thank you ever so much for all the support you've shown my little business since I began sharing my embroidery here! It has meant so much to me to be able to do this, even if just in a small way. 💖🪡 Wishing you all some beautiful stitches ahead!

Anne
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February Wreath aka "Victorian Valentine" pattern February Wreath aka "Victorian Valentine" pattern from last year 💖🌸🎀 I love this one so much and it's perfect for Valentine's Day coming up!

Find it in my Etsy shop 💜

(Sorry for the shaky video!!)
Needle minders will be leaving my shop soon!! 🍒 Needle minders will be leaving my shop soon!! 🍒 Snag a cute little fruity needle minder for your next embroidery project before February 9th! All remaining needle minders in my shop are 10% off until then 💕🍓🍒💛
✨️ IMPORTANT UPDATE ✨️ I will be disconti ✨️ IMPORTANT UPDATE ✨️

I will be discontinuing embroidery kits from my shop very soon, but I still have 2 left of this pretty summer wreath up for grabs!! 🌼🍓

I love this design and the kit comes with everything you need to make the project: two pieces of cotton fabric, thread card loaded with DMC floss, two needles, a good quality 6" hoop, and the PDF pattern! All presented in a handy folder to make it easy to keep everything together 🤍💛❤️

Visit my Etsy shop (linked in bio) if you're interested!! They won't be around for long!
Thank you so much for all the love on the Floral G Thank you so much for all the love on the Floral Garden bunting!! 💖🌷🌻 Following several inquiries from some of you who were missing some or all of the patterns from this project, I've decided to link them in a handy-dandy blog post for easier access! 💕 I've linked it via my bio if you want to have a look and get the patterns! I like to give my subscribers a bit of exclusivity, but since this project has now come to a close, I've decided to make it available to everyone. 🥰

I may also have taken that opportunity to write a bit about each flower, the inspiration behind the designs, and of course their meanings according to the Language of Flowers 😊🌿🌻 If that sounds of interest to you, read  the post to find out more! I've also linked some stitch tutorials that may be helpful. 

Happy stitching! 🎀🪡🌼

Anne
The Floral Garden stitch-along has come to a close The Floral Garden stitch-along has come to a close and the bunting has been sewn and hung! 🌻🌷🌿 what a joy it was to work on throughout the year, and I hope you've enjoyed it too! I'm thrilled with the final result 😍

Thank you so much for all the lovely comments and enthusiasm for this project. I've just sent the final instructions + bunting template to my email subscribers 💌 it isn't too late if you'd like to give this project a try - you can sign-up via the link in my bio and receive the links to all 12 floral motifs from last year + the instructions for the bunting!! 💕

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Winter Fox 🦊🤍🌲 I think this makes the fir Winter Fox 🦊🤍🌲 I think this makes the first completed embroidery for 2024! Absolutely loved working on this and love the mix of watercolor with embroidery! Can't get enough of the little pinecones 🤎
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