Everything is difficult to start. Embroidery beginners will meet all sorts of frustrations in the process of embroidering. But to enhance technique for the craft, you have to overcome initial challenges. Questions about embroidery hoops are one of the most frequently-asked. Selecting the right embroidery hoop is crucial, as it allows for better control and precision in your handwork, ultimately leading to better results. These tension keeping tools are vital in the embroidery process and there is a lot to know about them. This blog collects some common questions troubling beginners. The blog contains two parts. Read Part 1 for more information related to this magnificent tool.
1. The best size embroidery hoop
What is the best size embroidery hoop to use depends on specific embroidery projects. What is best for this one might be unfit for another one. In order to determine the best circular hoop size you should follow the two rules as follows:
1. The hoop size should be bigger than the design for about 1.5 to 2 inches.
The margin left between the hoop and embroidery pattern is necessary. It ensures that each stitch is executed with precision and allows for optimal fabric tension. Things might get tough if you leave too small areas there. Choosing the right embroidery hoop size not only affects the fabric's stability but also influences how easily your thread will glide through the material, ensuring smooth and consistent stitching. This margin is left for your hand or the machine to freely move around to do embroidery. So don’t forget about it.
2. The hoop size should not be too big compared to the pattern.
Only a suitable hoop size can generate tension good enough for embroidering. When the frames get too large, the tension will get loose. Thus you won’t be able to get clean stitches, especially when the embroidery is done by a machine.
2. What size embroidery hoop is best for beginners?
Small-sized hoops of 4 x 4”,5 x 5”and 5 x 7” are best for beginners. They are light-weighted and therefore can be easy to adjust. Beginners usually deal with simple and small patterns, which they have no problem holding. Larger hoops is the next step. And after you master the art, you can sew, embroider, and do quilting with a large frame. There is no need to hurry, you should do it step by step. In addition, they have many other advantages as well. These hoops are very common. Almost every mainstream machine brand manufactures them, making those hoops easy to find. They also have all sorts of options in shape, colour, material, strength and so on. A proficient embroiderer must be good at all sizes of hoops, but surely the smallest ones are the top pick for beginners.
3. Choosing embroidery hoop size
Many beginners are confused about how to choose embroidery hoop size. To answer this question, you can ask yourself another question: What’s the purpose of your using a hoop? For fixation surely. So as long as this hoop can help you get good tension on the fabric, then it’s a good choice for you.
- What size hoop should I get for embroidery?
- Based both on your embroidery patterns and your embroidery machine. When you purchase your embroidery machine, one of the most important information you should not miss is the max embroidery space. Any hoops of a smaller size could be used with the machine. And then, take a look at your embroidery design’s size. The best option is the most suitable option. For more specific ideas on how to choose the most suitable size, check at sub section 1. Then how can I know if my hoop size is right for my projects? That depends on if you got a perfect tension. Tap on the fabric, use your hands, ears and eyes to judge if there is good tension. If that’s tight enough for embroidering, it won’t easily warp or distort when being tapped. If that’s not tight enough, adjust it until it becomes suitable. If you have trouble adjusting, taking the fabric out and just re-hoop it.
4. How do I know what size embroidery hoop to use?
What size embroidery hoop to use mainly depends on your design size. As long as you know the size of your design, choosing the fitting hoop can be easy. For example, “what size hoop for 5x7 embroidery” is a simple question. The answer is no other than a 5 x 7 embroidery hoop. The producer named those hoops after where they can be used at.
5. How do I know what size my embroidery hoop is?
This is kind of a complex question. Actually there are three sizes of hoops that are often confused: marked hoop size, inner hoop size and actual embroidery area. When selecting the appropriate embroidery hoop size for your project, it's essential to learn about the differences between those concepts.
5.1 Marked hoop size
Marked hoop size gives approximate measurements of the hoops, which is easy to notice. On the ordering page of embroidery hoops, the items are usually named after embroidery hoop brand, hoop size and machine brand. For example, “Magnetic Hoops 10.5″x 12.4″ | 265 x 315 mm for Avance Embroidery Machines” means the magnetic hoop is designed for Avance embroidery machines and the producer of the hoop is Sewtalent. The marked size of it is 10.5″x 12.4″ (265 x 315 mm).
5.2 Inner Hoop Size
Inner hoop size is the physical size of a hoop’s inner edge. Take the below magnetic hoop as an example. The light-blue area shows the size of the inner hoop.
This measurement is often not provided by the manufacturers. So in order to find out it, you might need to measure it by yourself
5.3 Actual Embroidery Area
- What is actual embroidery area? - This area should be smaller than the the inner hoop size, for you have to leave some space for the needles and its partners to work. The edge of hoops might collide with the needle if there is not enough space left between the hoop and actual embroidery field. - How to know what size the actual embroidery area is? - Guess. This size is hard to measure. And with a different machine or even just a different presser foot, it will have a slight change. So we need to guess a vague value for embroidery area. Normally it’d be about 1.5 inches smaller than the inner hoop size. Here is a table for the most common hoop sizes and their corresponding embroidery areas:
| Marked Size (inch) | Marked Size (mm) | Actual Embroidery Field Size (inch) |
| 4 x 4 | 100 x 100 | 3.93 x 3.93 |
| 5 x 7 | 130 x 180 | 5.12 x 7.09 |
| 6 x 8 | 160 x 200 | 6.29 x 7.9 |
| 6 x 10 | 160 x 260 | 6.29 x 10.2 |
| 8 x 8 | 200 x 200 | 7.9 x 7.9 |
| 8 x 10 | 200 x 260 | 7.9 x 10.2 |
| 8 x 12 | 200 x 300 | 7.9 x 11.75 |
| 9 x 12 | 230 x 300 | 9.1 x 11.8 |
| 9 x 14 | 230 x 360 | 9.1 x 14.17 |
Side Note
Have you noticed one thing? Some actual embroidery area is larger than the marked size, while some is smaller. Why is that? Mystery unveiled: In order for customers to remember these sizes, manufacturers choose to mark them with the closest whole numbers to the size of the design they can accommodate. Therefore, they may be sometimes larger and sometimes smaller than the embroidery field.
6. How do you measure the size of an embroidery hoop?
You should use a different method to measure the hoops for their different shapes.
For round-shaped hoops, measure them straight across the middle. This value could also be termed as diameter. For other shaped hoops that look like rectangles or squares, they should be measured with two values: height and width. Sometimes sellers will give you the information both in inches and in millimeters so you can have an understanding of the hoop size quickly.
7. What size fabric for a 3 inch embroidery hoop?
At least 2 inches larger than the 3 inch embroidery hoop.
The fabric should leave space for the hoop to hold it. Two inches should be enough normally.
Embroider with Magnetic Hoop
Don’t be intimidated. With a bit of patience and persistence, you will get more pleasure in the embroidery. Check out our high-quality magnetic hoop for commercial-used embroidery machines at MagneticHoop.com. Wish you have fun in the journey.
FAQs
- What is the best size embroidery hoop?
There is no best size embroidery hoop, only suitable hoops and unfit hoops. You should always choose a “best” size of the hoop after the size of your project is settled.
- What size embroidery hoop should I use? /How big should my embroidery hoop be?
First you should figure out the size of your designs, then choose a hoop 1 to 2 inches larger than the patterns. Actually it can be bigger than that, but this is the best size. If your design is named 4 x 4”, for instance, then a 4 x 4” hoop is what you need.
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What size is my embroidery hoop?
One thing to be noticed, embroidery hoop size can be referred to two items: marked size and physical size. They are two separated concepts.
- For marked size:
This data is often marked on the surface of the product. If you could not find out, checking your guide books or contacting the manufacturer or dealership is the easiest way. You can also measure the inner hoop size by yourself.
- For physical size:
The physical size of hoops means the inner hoop sizes. A hoop marked as 6 x 8 inches (160 x 200 mm) in embroidery terms actually has a bigger physical size for its inner hoop. The distance between the inner hoop and embroidery margin can be around 1 to 2 inches. So a 6 x 8” hoop might measure about 7.5 x 10” by it’s physical size.
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What size is a 4x4 embroidery hoop?
The size of a 4 x 4” embroidery hoop is 100 x 100 mm. But it’s physical size varies slightly based on the specific model.
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What size is a 5x7 embroidery hoop (in mm)?
A 5 x 7 embroidery hoop’s in mm is 130 x 180 mm.
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How big is a 4x4 embroidery?
Measured by millimeters, a 4 x 4 embroidery hoop is of 100 x 100 mm.
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How big is 5x7 embroidery?
A 5 x 7” embroidery hoop measures 130 x 180 mm.
- What size is a 6x10 embroidery hoop? /How many mm is a 6 x 10 embroidery hoop?
A 6 x 10” embroidery hoop is 160 x 260 mm hoop. But its actual embroidery area is smaller than 6 x 10 inches.
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What size embroidery hoop is 5x12 in mm?
A 5 x 12” embroidery hoop is 130 x 300 mm.
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What size is an 8x8 embroidery hoop?
An 8 x 8” embroidery hoop measures 200 x 200 mm, which is suitable for any 8 x 8” size embroidery design.