EMB Machine Hooping 101
 

Please share your struggles with hooping and/or share tips for hooping embroidery projects. Here are some of my favorites.

Be sure to use the right stabilizer type for your project. Remember hoop if you can hoop.

Line up the center points of your project with the center lines of the hoop.

Mark the cross point references right on the stabilizer to help line up the project.

I place the top hoop on the stabilizer and project. Pick both up and lay in the bottom hoop. Adjust until center points are matched. Press down into hoop and tighten hoop.

If you have an error on your machine and have to remove the hoop, mark the project corners so you can re-align the project in the hoop if needed. Do this step before removing the hoop. Mark down the stitch count number and the step number of the design.

This is helpful if the embroidery is accidentally moved or bumped.

Another helpful article for hooping that explains techniques for hooping projects.

https://www.embroiderthis.com/hofafo....OZ01mB8b.dpbs

I haven't found an alternative to hooping the stabilizer, but i float the project itself whenever i can.
stabilizer is expensive enough.
fabric is exponentially more-so. :shock:

i've had embroidery-capable machines for a lot of years now.
but, i have only recently started playing with embroidering anything other than quilting motifs.

why?
your guess is as good as mine. lol

I don't think I ever hoop stabilizer and the article together..I've been machine emb'ing since early 90's and have 5 machines (tho one is being "sulky" right now). I normally hoop stabilizer and float my item, as Patrice does. Or I hoop the project and "float" the stabilizer under the hoop. This allows using up the scraps, as I can put the scrap where the design will go.

I struggled with hooping for a while when I got my first machine. Floating sometimes helped but there would inevitably be some puckering somewhere which drives me crazy. I don't remember where I first read this, "Taut, not tight". A light bulb went off and I finally got it. Everyone teaches to hoop the project and stabilizer tightly, which to me meant really tight like you do for hand embroidery. No, no,no. Just tight enough so it's not saggy or have gathers in the corners. With machine embroidery, every stitch pulls, no matter which direction the hoop is moving. The stabilizer helps prevent the pull from puckering but if what's in the hoop is so tight there's no give at all, it's gonna pucker and gather in places, more so with denser designs, and can even tear your fabric. Once I learned to lighten up on how tight I hoop my project things got much better. Now, heavy thick things like towels or thick fluffy Christmas stockings I don't hoop those but I pin them around the edge to the hooped stabilizer.

Cari

A couple of tips that I have found very useful:
1: when needing to pin something to the stabilizer, use the curved safety pins that are used to pin baste the three layers of a quilt. I don't close them, but that curve really makes it easy to get the pin in, up and out. As always...make sure they are NOT in the actual embroidering area, I keep them as close to the edge of the hoop as possible.
2. If your machine has a basting stitch, use it. Makes everything stay in place and is easy to remove.
3. Be super careful of which marking pen you use. I try to avoid pens as much as possible and simply fold and make a light press (enough to see the marks) to align with the marks on the hoop. Don't care what they say about themselves, not all pen marks are removeable!! lol And we won't even talk about those chalk markers....
All I can think of right now....

Cari, you may have just solved my problem. The last couple of sweatshirts I embroidered pucked and it was a dense design. That's the first time I had the problem of sweats. I may have had the hoop to tight. I'm going to try your way and see if it helps. Thanks for the tip.

I always do a practice stitch out, sometimes more than one, on the same type of fabric my project will be so I can change something up if I need to. The right type of stabilizer is important too. I'm not a fan of tear away types, especially on clothing. For a sweatshirt I usually use a medium weight cut away.

Cari

Cari, I always do a stitchout too but not necessarily on the same material as what I'm going to put the design. I don't usually have a spare sweat to use as a test. (I'm not being catty.) I used cotton and I think it was a lightweight mesh cutaway on the test. On the actual sweat I used the same mesh since I don't think I have any medium weight. Would a double layer of the lightweight have worked? Something else I remembered is one of the members here suggested enlarging a dense design to 105% to help combat the puckering. I haven't tried that yet. I keep forgetting to enlarge it before starting the design.

Yes you can double a light weight stabilizer when needed. I have an organizer on the back of a door that's full of different stabilizers and still sometimes don't have exactly what I need so I'll double up, sometimes mixing two different kinds to get the right weight or thickness.
It was probably me that wrote the suggestion of enlarging a dense design in the machine. It does help, without the size change being all that noticeable. I don't like to do designs that are so unnecessarily dense that the machine sounds like a jackhammer stitching it out.

Cari

Cari, I have an organizer too but it seems I never have the one I need. :)