Originally Posted by
Cari-in-Oly
There's a fine line between tight enough and too tight. If you hoop too tight, especially with a dense design, you run the risk of the stitches pulling at the weave and you end up with holes at the edge of your design. Hooping a thick item too tight also runs the risk of warping your hoop. Proper hooping takes practice, I've ruined more than one project and one hoop getting the hang of it. Lots of frustration at times but I knew it was my errors and not the machine. I finally found what works better for me most of the time with the 5x7 hoop is to hoop the stabilizer and float my project using spray adhesive(wovens) or sticky backed adhesive(knits) and a basting stitch.
Cari
Granted there is such a thing as being too tight. . . and in the light of day, I can see how my comment sounds as if I was advising stretching to the limit!
Seriously, I shouldn't post, when half asleep!
What I meant was not to have
any sagging of the fabric. Unfortunately, my brain falls asleep before my body does.
