DIY embroidery hoop binding tutorial: easy, no glue method

Honestly, many of you might think that binding a hoop is just a pain, but I'm telling you – it's worth it! So, here I thought... if you are still not convinced enough in its practical use, how about doing it just to make your hoop look fancy?

This is kind of an emergency tutorial which I did by request, but I hope it is informative and clear enough.

Why bind the hoop

I bought a couple of embroidery hoops recently, and one of them was rather thin, which I didn't notice when I was buying it... Yes, I am the type of a customer who makes a purchase and runs away and only takes a closer look when back at home. I hate asking sellers to show this and that and that, I just feel so embarrassed, you know?

Well, enough about embarrassing stuff, back to the hoops.

If your hoop is thin and you are not sure it will hold the fabric tightly enough, binding it is always a good idea. Earlier, I already spoke in more detail about the reasons for binding your embroidery hoop. This simple act actually has a lot of practical use and you will notice the difference immediately. Apart from keeping the fabric drum taught for a longer time, it also protects your embroidery (especially the dimensional, raised stitches) when you need to move the hoop along the fabric. And also, it prevents sharp creases from appearing and burning into the fabric so much that it is hard to get rid of them even after ironing it thoroughly.

Why bind the outside ring?

Most commonly, stitchers bind the inside ring and I'm not really sure why. I mean, if we speak about preventing the creases from appearing and keeping the tension of the fabric, then any ring will do.

But when I think about protecting the embroidery, then, in my mind, binding the outside ring is more practical and logical. Because when you move the ring and your stitches end up under the outside hoop ring, won't they feel better if they are met with the softer padding of the binding rather than the hard wooden surface? Moreover, if you have an inside ring bound it will kind of push the fabric and embroidery higher towards the bare outside ring. And rather than saving your stitches, it will only increase the pressure on them which can result in them being ruined.

You know what I mean?

So, putting two and two together, personally, I prefer binding the outside ring. This way the practical use intensifies! It keeps the fabric tension high, protects fabric from strong creases, and protects your embroidery better. In the time of using my bound hoop I moved it and raised stitches such as French knots were under the outside ring and they survived the pressure excellently.

The only thing that might be stopping stitchers from binding the outside ring is that if you do that using a simple twill tape (which is often used for this purpose), then your hoop will look kind of dull on the outside? Maybe? I didn't see many embroidery hoops with outside ring bound in twill, to be honest, but I can imagine.

So, that's why, I suggest using a pretty cotton fabric for binding the outside ring – you can find it in quilt and patchwork stores, the choice is REALLY wide today. Take the one that brings your mood up, because you will look at it all the time, haha.

HOW to bind an embroidery hoop

Now, to the juicy part: how to bind the embroidery hoop.

You will need only the hoop, strip of cotton fabric and sharp scissors (better the special ones for fabric, but embroidery ones will do).

The length of the strip of fabric will vary depending on the size of your hoop. My hoop here is 20cm in diameter. And I had a piece of cotton 40x10 cm that I wanted to use as a binding material. I cut it in half and got two strips of fabric 40x5cm. It was enough to a hair's breadth. So, I would recommend having a strip of fabric 1m in length and 5-6cm in width.

We are using the no glue method today, but if you want to bind your hoop permanently, this is where I would suggest using a bit of glue. Otherwise, you can just put the end of a binding material at an angle as demonstrated above. Notice that the end doesn't just lie on the wooden surface – it hangs on the other side.

Now we start winding the cotton strip around the hoop ring. Keep the binding quite tight, don't let it be loose.

In my case, the first strip finished somewhere in the middle of the ring.

So, I started with the second one, exactly the same way, overlapping on the place where the first one finished.

When you come to the screw, you must have a bit of the strip left. Cut it in half to have two ends.

Move one of the ends under the ring.

And tie the two ends together. You will get a fancy bow next to the screw.

Easy?

Yes.

Quickly?

Yes.

Pretty?

So pretty!

Extra tips:

• I'm not using glue because I don't want to bind my hoops permanently. So, in case I want to unwind the material, I can easily do so and the hoop will be still like new.
• I can assure you that the binding holds perfectly well without any glue. The hoop you can see in this article is my first one and has been in use for at least 3 years now (or more, I don't remember when I started stitching, omg) and is still the one I use most often, and I only needed to re-bind it a couple of times in the whole time of use, because the end of the second strip (I used two strips there too. It wasn't my choice! Just the strips were short that time too, haha) came out.
• The fabric binding will wear down eventually, but you can count on at least 1-2 years of using it (although it will depend on the quality of cotton, obviously). That being said, maybe you will want to change the fabric to another one earlier if you get bored with the current one.
• When you are binding, make the wrapping tight, but don't be afraid if there are any occasional lumps, bumps and folds. It won't harm your fabric or embroidery in any way – just maybe it won't look as aesthetically pleasing in pictures, but that's about all there is to it.

So, try it out and tell me how it goes and how you like it!