A few days ago, when I showed you how to bind an embroidery hoop I shared and image with a hoop cover and I promised to share a tutorial soon on how to make one. Here I am today, with a super quick article on how I make an embroidery hoop cover and most importantly, when and why you should do too!
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Why and When to Make an Embroidery Hoop Cover?
Using a hoop cover when stitching comes with two major benefits. Similar to binding the inner hoop ring, a cover will prevent hoop marks that the outer ring can leave on your fabric. While this is already a big plus, the primary benefit is that a hoop cover will protect your fabric from staining caused by the oils and moisture from your hands during project work.
The main benefits of an embroidery hoop cover are:
- Prevents staining: When you spend long hours embroidering, your fabric is bound to get stained from holding the hoop. Despite frequent hand washing, the natural oils produced by our skin will eventually stain the fabric, particularly when working on light-colored fabrics.
- Prevents hoop marks: Just like binding the inner hoop ring, a cover acts as a binding for the outer ring. In more intricate embroideries, you’ll normally bind the inner hoop, then the cover will provide protection from the outer hoop damage.
Tools and Materials You’ll Need
Let’s have a look at the tools and materials you’ll need for making your own hoop covers.
MATERIALS NEEDED TO BIND EMBROIDERY HOOPS
- Embroidery hoop – wooden or plastic super grip hoop
- Cover fabric – light-weight cotton fabric works best (white or off-white)
- Scissors
A few aspects to think about when choosing the cover material are the type of embroidery hoop you are using and the color of the fabric you are stitching on.
Things to consider when choosing your hoop cover fabric:
- The weight of the fabric used as a cover: When using a super grip hoop, like the one I’m using in this tutorial, go for a lightweight fabric for both the cover and binding the inner hoop ring. Otherwise, it’ll be difficult to mount all the layers into the hoop.
- The color of the fabric used as a cover: If you’re stitching on white fabric, be mindful about the color of the cover fabric you choose. Avoid vibrant fabrics as they could bleed dye when moist and stain your main embroidery fabric. The safest option is to use a white or off-white cotton fabric.
- The type of the fabric used as a cover: 100% cotton fabric works best as a cover as it provides a good grip for the hoop.
- Stitching on dark fabrics:If you’re embroidering on colored fabric, particularly very dark or black ones, you likely won’t need to worry about staining while stitching, as dark fabrics tend to conceal stains better than light ones. However, I still recommend using a cover even in such cases, as it helps prevent hoop marks.
How to Make an Embroidery Hoop Cover
The process of making your own hoop cover is straightforward and should take more than 30 minutes of your time. I’ve broken down the process into 3 simple steps:
- Step 1: Cut the fabric used for the cover
- Step 2: Mount both the traced and cover fabric into the hoop
- Step 3: Cut the excess cover fabric to reveal the design
Step 1: Cut the fabric used for the cover
Cut a piece of scrap fabric. I usually cut the cover fabric in more or less the same size as the main fabric I’m embroidering on. This will depend of course on the project you’re working on.
Fold the scrap fabric twice and cut a small hole in the center of the folded fabric.
Here’s how mine looks. This small hole should be large enough to allow your scissors to fit in later when we’ll be cutting the rest of the fabric.
TIP
I’m using a white 100% light-weight cotton fabric for the cover. This is the same fabric I used for binding the inner ring of the super-grip hoop used for this project.
Step 2: Mount the traced and cover fabric into the hoop
Next, we’ll mount both layers of fabric into the hoop.
Place your embroidery fabric (the one with the traced pattern) over the inner hoop. Although you can’t see it in this image, my inner ring hoop is also bound.
Place the scrap fabric you’re using for the cover on top of the embroidery fabric. Make sure that both the design and the cover fabric are centered within the hoop.
Place the outer hoop ring on top of both fabric layers and secure.
Here, you can see how important the weight of the fabrics is. The outer ring must go over three layers: the binding of the inner hoop, the embroidery fabric, and the cover fabric.
Remember, super-grip hoops usually come with shorter screws, which might not be long enough to secure heavy-weight fabrics properly.
Step 3: Cut the excess cover fabric to reveal the design
Cut away the excess fabric to reveal your design.
When you’re cutting the cover fabric, be careful not to accidentally snip the embroidery fabric underneath. Keep your scissors in an almost horizontal position while cutting.
Usually, I wouldn’t worry too much if the hole in the cover isn’t perfectly round. But for this tutorial, I wanted a decently circular shape so I could share it with you.
Here’s what I did when I realized I couldn’t cut a perfect circle freehand: I used a smaller hoop ring and traced a circle with an HB pencil (forgot to snap a pic!). Then, I used that traced circle as a guide for cutting. You can try the same trick, just make sure the pen you use won’t bleed onto the main embroidery fabric – that’s why an HB pencil works perfectly.
And here’s the project I’m currently working on. It’s a bit more challenging than I thought, and I’m still tweaking the pattern as I go. Can’t wait to show you the finished pansie pattern when it’s all done!
I know some of these prep steps might be boring or feel like a waste of time. But sometimes, we learn the hard way. That was definitely the case for me. When I started with more intricate embroideries, I didn’t see the value of binding the hoop or making a cover.
Until I got stuck dealing with some stubborn hoop marks that were a pain to get rid of. Not to mention the massive stain I ended up with on my Floral Alphabet pattern from how I was holding the hoop while working on it.
Nowadays, I never start a complex project without binding the inner ring and crafting a hoop cover. It’s essential, especially for intricate patterns like the pansies I showed you.
Frequently Asked Questions
To prevent staining your embroidery fabric while working, making a hoop cover is the best solution.
I usually craft a new cover for each complex project I start. Unlike binding the hoop, which is a one-time task that allows you to reuse the hoop for multiple embroidery projects, the hoop cover usually can’t be reused. This is mainly because it’s tailored to the specific design you’re working on, and once it’s mounted in the hoop, it tends to become distorted and warped, making it not very reusable.
An embroidery hoop cover shields your fabric from staining caused by the oils and moisture from your hands during project work, while also preventing hoop marks left by the outer hoop ring.
Download Free Embroidery Patterns
Remember that you can download a wide range of free embroidery patterns from the Free Pattern Library and start stitching straight away. To access it just fill out the form below and I will send you an email with your password.
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- How to Create a Stitch Color Palette from a Photo
- Hand Embroidery Supplies Essential for Beginners
Drop a comment below sharing your prep process. Or even better, come and join our Facebook Group to share your magic tricks.
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