5 Embroidery Frames That Will Up-Level Your Hoop Art
Image of a classic, unfinished, wooden embroidery hoop. These are the frames most associated with embroidery.
I didn’t even realize there were other kinds of embroidery hoops in the world until I started stitching them recently.
It all started with a commission order I received for an embroidery hoop the same week I launched this new site. My sister wanted a unique piece for her best friend, “T,” for T’s birthday. (Trying to give the gal some privacy.) In this case, when I say I didn’t know there were other styles of hoops in the world, I mean “different than the plain, unfinished wood or bamboo” hoops I am accustomed to.
My sister and T live in Tennessee, and I live in Michigan. Unfortunately, I never had the chance to meet T before I moved back home in 2021.
The screenshot my sister sent me when giving me reference ideas for the birthday gift she was commissioning me to create.
Sara (sister) sent me a reference photo/screenshot from her phone (featured to the left). She said she wanted an embroidery hoop with a message of empowerment that T could hang in her office or a prominent place in her home.
Sara said she was granting me complete artistic license over the project, telling me only that T’s favorite color (like mine) is purple.
How to create a female-empowerment embroidery hoop.
As I stated earlier, I’ve never met T. But I know a few things:
Sara and T met in a Burn Bootcamp, and they’re both reasonably badass.
T is a recently divorced, single mom of two.
T is a WOC from New York who is now living in a conservative, rural-ish county (read also: rednecks; confederate statues; covert and overt racism, etc.) and, I imagine, often wishes she could click her heels three times and GTFO of Tennessee on a semi-regular basis.
(These are my words, not hers. As a progressive woman from the North myself, living in Tennessee was incredibly challenging, culturally and politically. From what I know, I imagine it is even more difficult for T.)
I wanted this modern embroidery hoop to ooze badassery and boldness.
The modern female-empowerment embroidery hoop that I designed and created for T’s birthday.
When my sister told me T loves purple, I thought of lavender. And when I thought about T’s age and what was happening with Hip Hop back in the ’80s, something told me the hoop should have a cool, 1980s-1990s Hip Hop in NYC (the Bronx, specifically) vibe.
The fist in the reference photo didn’t look powerful enough to me. I scoured Etsy for patterns and landed on one more fitting for the vibe.
Note: If you’re looking for something like this on Etsy for your design or template, I recommend the packs with SVG, JPG, and PNG file types.
When I completed the embroidery hoop, I was blown away by my work. The three-dimensional look to certain elements; the depth and dimension I created in the first by mixing several skin tone colors to create a brown skin that felt right for T’s complexion; symbolism regarding her and her two children, and the protection over them all.
I wanted T to feel like this embroidery hoop was a message to her about how amazing she is and a message for her about how seen she is, being a single mom, a businesswoman, and an athlete. I wanted her to look at this and think, “Just keep going.”
But something was missing. I needed to up-level my hoop.
I picked the plastic yellow embroidery hoop (paid link) to serve as a frame for this piece when I started working on it because I thought the bold yellow color would go well with the imagery and aesthetic of the piece. But once the picture was finished, the yellow wasn’t enough.
I needed to Zhuzh it up a little bit! So, down the old Amazon rabbit hole, I went. I didn’t know what I might find. I had seen people use different colors and types of fabric for embroidery art but had never seen anything but wooden hoops until Amazon recommended a set of plastic, multi-colored embroidery hoops (paid link, again!) based on my shopping.
A plethora of frames of different shapes and styles, plus fabric and felt, laid out on my family’s dining room table. T’s completed birthday embroidery art lay atop the pile in the center, mounted in a faux-wooden frame with antiqued-looking hanging hardware.
Five embroidery hoops you can use to up-level your embroidery hoop art.
Each of these five includes an affiliate link from Amazon, so I may receive financial compensation if you purchase them.
I didn’t use the bright yellow hoop frame for T’s birthday piece, but the bright green 8” hoop that I got with this set worked perfectly for this unicorn hoop I did!
This is a close-up of the piece I did for T’s birthday, in the imitation wood frame.
This 4” hexagonal imitation wood hoop was perfect for a little Valentine’s Day surprise for my boyfriend, Jeff.
I haven’t used these personally, but they sure look nice! Image of finished work borrowed from Amazon.
This darker wood finish is a little more dramatic than the lighter color of your average bamboo frame, for instance.
Thank you for reading about five embroidery hoops that will up-level your hoop art. I hope you find it useful!
Whatever you make, make it with love! Use the hoop that makes you feel like your piece is complete.
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