Four Ways to Secure Items in the Hoop

How you secure projects in the hoop depends upon what you are embroidering. Fortunately, we have several options! The best way to secure items that you are embroidering is to hoop them in the traditional fashion. Hooping helps to hold stabilizers and fabrics in place to ensure proper tension and stitch alignment. When hooping isn’t possible, for whatever reason, you can try these techniques.

Basting Stitches

Basting stitches are temporary stitching around the outside of your design area that holds the item you are embroidering in place on the hooped stabilizer. After embroidery, they are snipped and easily removed.

Spooky Buddies

They are useful not only as a method of securing items in the hoop, like thick towels, but also help with positioning designs and even in re-hooping projects that pop out of the hoop.

Pins

Some embroiderers like to pin items to hooped stabilizer. I have never had much luck because I tend to stretch the stabilizer while trying to insert the pins. Curved safety pins, like those used to baste quilt layers together, worked best (so long as I didn’t snap them closed).

The only pins I use with any regularity are T-pins, which secure hooped fabric to stabilizer to prevent it from slipping in the hoop. You can see how it’s done here.

Adhesives

One of the most popular ways to keep items from shifting in the hoop, is to use a temporary adhesive. Sprays and glue sticks are common, particularly for stitching applique and in-the-hoop (ITH) designs.

Tape is another useful tool. I started out using painter’s tape but found it was not sticky enough to hold fabric and batting securely. Following the advice of others, I have found that transpore medical tape works even better.

Magnets

When you don’t want to baste, pin, or tape your item in place, magnets are the perfect solution. I’ve used them when stitching items that were impossible to hoop or pin like stuffed animals.

Magnets are especially useful when stitching on vinyl or making embroidered cards. See how well magnets work here.

Which is your favorite way to hold items in place while embroidering?

Debbie Henry
Sew Inspired by Bonnie