What is “in the hoop”?

In the hoop projects are ones that are made with an embroidery machine. The item you are embroidering on is made ‘in the hoop’ by laying down the fabric compared to normal machine embroidery where the item being embroidered is either bought or premade. ’In the hoop’ combines quilting, appliqueing, patchwork and embroidery to produce amazing quilts, cushions/pillows, table runners, placemats, oven gloves, handbags, totes, purses, stuffed toys and many other decorative and functional items. They are made up from the panels produced in the hoop. The size of the hoop is important in determining the finished size of the item made. Some items are made completely in just the one hooping. Others consist of several hooped panels being sewn together to enable a much larger finished item. For example... a 6 x 10 hoop produces one finished panel which is perfect for a mug rug, small purse or small stuffed toy. Several 6 x10 hooping’s produce panels perfect to be sewn together to make handbags, totes, table runners, placemats, larger stuffed toys etc. The sewing together of these panels can also be done whilst in the hoop. How often do you hear of people lamenting that they can’t “even sew a straight line”? Well problem sorted, the ‘in the hoop’ method means that the embroidery machine does it all for you thanks to the design file that can be loaded onto it. Even zippers can be inserted whilst the item is in the hoop. Requirements for “In the hoop” projects

1. Embroidery machine
2. Computer, laptop or tablet
3. A design to be uploaded onto your embroidery machine. A Sweet Pea one of course
4. Embroidery hoops… the selection available to you will depend on your model of machine
5. Stabilizer (different types to be used depending on the project)...This is the foundation of your project, what the body of the project will be built on.
6. Wadding/ Batting
7. Machine embroidery thread
8. Selection of fabrics… this is the fun part where you can be creative and original