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Christmas Once a Month – Decorating w/ Embroidery Hoops

Christmas Once a Month at The Crafty QuilterThis month we are decking the halls with embroidery hoops!  This is such an easy project, I feel like I’m cheating!

decorating with embroidry hoops

You can embellish these embroidery hoops as little or as much as you want.  I’m using Winter’s Lane fabric from Moda (via The Christmas Cloth Store at the Fat Quarter Shop) which is so pretty and perfect for this.

winter's lane

Add some buttons, ribbon and ric rak and you’re all set!

I recently received a few vintage embroidery hoops, plus I supplemented with a few that I bought at Joann’s in a 8″ size.  I was looking for the smaller (3″ or 4″) sizes to use for ornaments, but I couldn’t find them anywhere.  So I’m sticking with the larger sizes which are perfect to hang on the wall.

hoop and fabric

decorating with embroidery hoops

I cut my fabric into squares that were about 1″ – 2″ larger than the hoop size.  Then I centered the fabric over the inner ring and placed the outer ring on top.  Once I was satisfied, I tightened the screw and then trimmed the fabric on the back side.

embroidery hoop placement

trim fabric

I need to confess:  I am not an embroidery expert.  I don’t know if trimming the fabric is the correct way to do this.  Maybe you should leave the extra fabric and sew a running stitch around it to gather the fabric from behind. If you know of a better way, please let me know!

I added buttons to the centers of the poinsettias in this print:

decorating with embroidery hoops

And a little ric rac to this print which gives it a Christmas ornament feel:

decorating w/ embroidery hoops

If I had more experience with embroidery stitches, I would have added some snow flakes to this fabric.  Instead, all I added was a pretty bow:

deocrating w/ embroidery hoops

For Christmas, my oldest daughter embroidered this beautiful piece and gifted it to me:

Peace by Kelly Cefalu for The Crafty Quilter

It says “peace” in eight different languages spiraling out from a dove in the center.  It makes my heart full every time I look at it!  Today, I finally gave it a proper home in this embroidery hoop:

Peace embroidery
“Words of Peace” embroidered by Kelly Cefalu

 

There are so many ways that you can use embroidery hoops for decorating.  Here are a few examples that would be perfect for the holidays:

From City Girl Gone Coastal, here is “A Merry Little Hoop” that is so cute hanging from a stick:

have yourself a merry little christmas

The Crafty Cupboard has some adorable embroidery hoop ornaments that had me at ric rak!

embroidery hoop ornaments
Embroidery Hoop Ornaments by The Crafty Cupboard

 

The Home Dzine website has some lovely embroidery hoop crafts to inspire you:

embroidery hoop crafts
Originally sold on Etsy by pillipilli

 

And if you ever shop on Etsy, you can find all kinds of embroidery hoop art.  Here’s one example from My Burlap Home on Etsy:

JOY Christmas Ornament Embroidery Hoop Art Rustic Folk Gift Country Vintage Style Bunting
JOY Christmas Ornament from My Burlap Home on Etsy

 

And this sweet and simple one for any time of the year from Three Red Apples:

Embroidered Hoop Art - 'Flowers & Butterflies' textile artwork in green-  8" hoop
“Flowers & Butterflies” by Three Red Apples on Etsy

 

If you would like to stitch up your own image, you should check out Shirley’s designs at Hudson’s Holidays.  She has some free stitchery patterns to share including this Noel Candy Cane:

Noel embroidery design
Noel Candy Cane @ Hudson’s Holidays

If you don’t have any embroidery hoops in your stash, I give you permission to go shopping!  And of course you’ll have to get some pretty fabric to go with it ;-).

christmas embroidery hoops

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11 Comments

  1. That’s a project on my to do list,from the Holiday Craft Magazine from last year that comes out in October. lol! I love the possibilities. Ok so I’ll think of something else : )

  2. Julie,
    Love the idea, will be using it later this year. If I am not mistaken, I think that Michael’s might have some of the smaller hoops that you were looking for. I know that I have seen them in there sometime before, might be worth a peek. Anne

  3. Just recently discovered the magic of using embroidery hoops as frames. And yours are calling me to action! Now, finally i know exactly what to do with an adorable Matryoshka fabric I ordered from Spoonflower.

  4. Hi Julie,
    Regarding you question on trimming fabric at the back of the embroidery hoop: I think that works okay, however, if the fabric gets loose in the hoop it’s almost impossible to get it re-hooped as well as you did before the trimming. I like to use a lightweight fusible fleece on the back of the fabric because it holds everything tight much better and produces a nice, smooth appearance to the front picture area. I usually trim if I’ve used the batting. I suppose you could also do a trim at about an inch away from the hoop and then use a running stitch to hold the fabric to the back/center of the hoop.

    Love your designs & hoops!
    Peggy D.

    1. Thank you for the great input Peggy! I had thought of lining the fabric with something, but I didn’t know what exactly. Fusible fleece sounds perfect!

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