Embroidery Hoop Art

Have you seen any embroidery hoop art?  For those of you who aren't sure what this is, it involves using an embroidery hoop as the frame for some artwork. It may be embroidery, appliqué or anything else you might like to try.  If you 'google' it, there are some lovely images to look at.  Some pieces of embroidery hoop art are really detailed work. Some of them are extremely simple ideas such as just framing a piece of pretty fabric that you would like to have on display.  Grouping different sized frames together seems very popular and, I have to say I really like the whole idea and style.

I thought I would have a go at making some embroidery hoop art of my own but, I am having a bit of a problem as, I haven't been able to find a very forthcoming supply of wooden embroidery hoops of different sizes in the shops here.  I did find a small hoop (13cm which is just over 5 inches) at a local department store so, I snapped it up to use and, I have now ordered some larger sizes online.  However, that means waiting for them to arrive *sighs impatiently* which means I have to put some of my ideas on 'hold' until they get here!!

In the meantime, I have been sketching some embroidery designs which I thought I could use.  The first of these was inspired by the Autumn. I thought I would go ahead and embroider it so that it was ready to frame in one of the new hoops on order.  However, when I finished embroidering it, I thought it looked quite nice framed in the hoop that I normally use when I embroider (which is made of yellow plastic!) so I trimmed up the back to make it look nice and this is how it looks finished.  However, as I like this hoop to work on my projects with, I may have to transfer it across to one of my 'on order' hoops when they arrive!!

Here is a close up of the embroidery.

And here is a glimpse of how I neatened the back.  I simply cut the background fabric of the embroidery into a large circle and then turned in a tiny hem.  Using a running stitch I stitched all around the edge securing the hem and then, using the same thread, gathered the fabric to the back of the hoop once the embroidery was hooped back in place.

I'm looking forward to my other hoops arriving so that I can experiment with some more embroidery hoop art ideas!  I have now used the small hoop that I bought to make something but, I'll show you that another time!!