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Mary Corbet

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I learned to embroider when I was a kid, when everyone was really into cross stitch (remember the '80s?). Eventually, I migrated to surface embroidery, teaching myself with whatever I could get my hands on...read more

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The Best Mini Hoops for Finishing Embroidery

 

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Today’s article is an example of either Really Bad Timing or Really Good Timing, depending on how you look at it.

I want to show you the Most Adorable, downright cute, perfectly constructed, beautifully finished tiny little hoops that you can use for finishing itty-bitty embroidery projects – whether you want to finish those little broder-bits into jewelry, ornaments, keychains, tiny framed things to hang from your ceiling all over your house…

Perhaps I should have mentioned these well before Christmas, so that you could use them to finish little embroidered ornaments or fun and unique jewelry to give as gifts. It’s too late for that now, but look at it this way: January gives you plenty of time to prepare for next Christmas, and for all the holidays, birthdays and other occasions in between!

Better yet, it’s also a great time to make something fun, just for yourself.

Miniature Hoops for Finishing Embroidery - for jewelry, ornaments

These little tiny hoop frames are made in Australia by Dandelyne, who has an Etsy shop where she sells assortments of different sizes of these precious little things. They’re also available in the States through Nordic Needle. I bought mine directly from Dandelyne before I realized they were also available here.

And although Dandelyne’s shop is closed right now for holidays (through January 18), you can sign up for notifications when the shop opens. Like I said, bad timing – or good, depending on how you look at it!

Let’s get on to the hoops themselves…

Miniature Hoops for Finishing Embroidery - for jewelry, ornaments

You can purchase the hoops individually or in combo packs. The combo packs come in all kinds of configurations, in case you want to try different sizes or shapes. The hoops come in round (all the way down to 1″ round!) and in oval shapes.

Miniature Hoops for Finishing Embroidery - for jewelry, ornaments

Keep in mind, these are not hoops for actually doing embroidery. They’re for finishing. They provide a wee frame around a wee piece of embroidery or other textile art – maybe just a pretty swatch of fabric, maybe something felted – there are lots of ways you could use these!

Each hoop is made up of three wooden parts – the outer ring, an inner disk for mounting your work, and a backing.

Each piece is meticulously finished, which is one reason I really love these little beauties. They are so well made, very precisely cut so every piece fits perfectly, and smooth, smooth, smooth.

Miniature Hoops for Finishing Embroidery - for jewelry, ornaments

I love the fact that there’s a pre-cut center piece that fits the hoop perfectly, making mounting your work really easy.

You can either mount directly on the inner wooden disk, folding the edge of the fabric around the disk and glueing or sewing it in place, or you can add a disk of interfacing or something similar, to lift your work up out of the hoop and give it some extra dimension. It’s up to you.

Miniature Hoops for Finishing Embroidery - for jewelry, ornaments

Once your work is mounted inside the hoop and the screw is in place (shown below), you cover the back with the backing wood, glueing it in place. The backing has a little notch cut out from it, to ensure that it doesn’t show from the front and that it fits right where it should!

Miniature Hoops for Finishing Embroidery - for jewelry, ornaments

Now, this is The Thing: To me, the fact that these tiny hoops have hardware is what makes them the crème de la crème of mini hoops.

There are other mini hoops out there, but they don’t usually come with real hardware. They usually just have an extending little wooden tab at the top of the circle. So they lack the real look of a good embroidery hoop that has real hardware on it.

I love the hardware on these things! It’s brilliant! And it’s actually really good, sturdy hardware – albeit quite small!

Miniature Hoops for Finishing Embroidery - for jewelry, ornaments

Each hoop and combo pack comes with step-by-step instructions for finishing your little miniature work of art and framing it in the hoop, too, so there’s no guess work involved.

So, if you’re looking for a clever way to finish up little bits of embroidery for ornamentation – jewelry, Christmas ornaments, name tags and the like – you might give these little mini hoops a try!

My original plan was to stitch up tiny Christmas ornaments and use the hoops for finishing, but it was one of those plans that never quite came to fruition. (Do you ever have plans like that? Or is it just me?)

Now, I’m thinking about tiny monogram necklaces, pins, keychains and things like that, for gift-giving throughout the year.

Again, you can find these miniature hoops through Dandelyne’s Etsy shop (they mail really quickly from Australia) and here in the States, through Nordic Needle. Incidentally, at Nordic Needle, I notice they also have some stitching ideas in the product descriptions, so if you’re wondering what to stitch for inside the hoops, there are some good ideas there!

I just love little embroidery! And these tiny hoops make an easy, cute way of finishing. I hope you’re as thrilled about them as I am and that you can find some exciting uses for them!

 
 

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(21) Comments

  1. This is another reason why I love your blog – tips on accessories and uses for what we make. I, too, have a pile of small ornaments to be finished (ok, a few need to be started) and the hoops I’ve found so far haven’t fit my idea of a proper send-off for a gift. I think this is brilliantly early, so thanks for kick-starting Christmas 2016!

    1
  2. Dear Mary

    These tiny embroidery hoops/frames look really well made and sturdy I can envisage all sorts of mini embroidery projects framed in these, they would make lovely gifts as well and they are really affordable. It’s a shame that you can’t purchase them in the UK. I can see you Mary framing all sorts of needlework goodies in these frames you must show us your framed projects and how they look in these hoops. Thanks for sharing these tiny hoops/frames with us and for the information on where to purchase them. I hope you have a great weekend, take care.

    Regards Anita Simmance

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  3. Those are the cutest frames, and their construction is excellent! I’m ordering them to frame little embroideries as handbag charms. The handbag charm is all the rage in NYC right now, but a mink pompom is retailing for $150 and up.

    6
  4. Oh I love the look of these, thanks Mary! Perfect for lots of little things and a great way of giving embroidery as gifts I think! I’ll be having a look at the Etsy shop shortly!

    8
  5. Hi Mary
    I bought some of these a few months ago to have some fun.
    When we were quiet at work so I went to get them for some fun…yep, you guessed. They are so small I can’t think where I put them and they have disappeared just like the odd sock in the washing machine.
    Time for a sort out me thinks.
    Take care.
    Karen in snowy Scottish Borders

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    1. Hi, Carol – Yes, they’re the same things. It looks like someone on Etsy, reselling at a slightly higher price. I think they’re less expensive straight through Dandelyne, and even the shipping from Australia isn’t bad.

  6. Hi, Mary
    My grandmother used a kit like this (20+ years ago) when my son was born, with little footprints cross stitched in blue, and his date of birth. I have always kept it. They are good keepsake items like that.

    Sally-Ann

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  7. LOVE them Mary. Bought 3 and am hoping I can use them as frames for mini minis. LOL Thanks so much for the fun stuff you find. I ordered them through your link so assume you get something hopefully.

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  8. Dandelyne fait des choses admirables!
    Et ces broderies dans ces petits cercles sont trop
    belles!
    Vos créations sont toutes aussi belles les unes que les autres, et vos explications sont très claires.
    Merci à vous deux!
    Amicalement
    Bernadette

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  9. These are adorable! The gears are turning! The first thing I thought of was a doll prop! I see they are a little pricey for the average Barbie doll user, but I am sure there are Grandmas and Grandpas who wouldn’t mind the extra for that special little someone’s doll. Then I thought of the purse/ backpack charms mentioned by Sahara earlier. You could spray fabric protector on them, or maybe Mod Podge to make the backpack charms more dirt resistant. Heck! The smaller ones could be encased in resin for keychains! They could be painted different colors– maybe school colors or something. They might make a gift if filled with a tiny snip of a bridal veil or wedding dress lace glued to make a little fringe around the hoop! Wow! I really want to go make something now! 🙂 Thanks for sharing! PS.- Still praying for your recovery!

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