Embroidery Hoop Backs

Iron on lightweight interfacing to the wrong side of the panel. Interfacing will help keep the fabric from stretching when you fill out the label, as well as help keep the text from getting distorted when you stretch it over the back of the hoop.

Iron out any creases in your fabric panel. Cut the embroidery back out from the panel following the outline of the outermost circle.

Fill out the label. An ultra-fine point Sharpie works well on Petal Signature Cotton. Marvy fabric markers are also fantastic. Whatever you use, make sure it’s a very fine point, or else the bleed from a thicker marker may make what your write illegible.

Make small cuts / snips from the edge to (not through!) the dashed line every third dash, creating little flaps all the way around.

Flip the back over so the wrong side is facing you. Fold down two of the flaps so that they fold right on the dashed line (they will overlap a bit). Press the flaps down. Repeat all the way around, folding down and overlapping one flap at a time as you press. Once all the flaps have been ironed down, flip it back over so the right side is facing  you. Give it one more good press all the way around. Also be sure to press over where you wrote—this will help set the ink and make it more permanent.

Grab your finished embroidery in the hoop! Center the fabric back on the back side of the embroidery hoop. Once centered, hold it in place at the top with a straight pin or clip. Directly opposite the top pin, gently pull the bottom of the fabric taught and pin/clip in place. Repeat on the left and right “sides” so you have 4 pins/clips holding the fabric back in place. Fill in the gaps with as many pins/clips as you need to hold it in place when you sew it. Make sure none of the folded down flaps have escaped and stick out.

Using a hand or embroidery needle and 2 strands of embroidery floss, stitch down the fabric back to the embroidery fabric. You can match your thread color to the back, choose a contrasting color, or another color from the embroidery you’re framing—you do you! The blanket stitch is the traditional finish here—it’s clean and hugs the circle nicely. Don’t know how to do a blanket stitch? Check out this video tutorial from Red Ted Art.