Embroidery Hoops with Screws

[Rose Kauhane]

Are you annoyed with your stitching thread getting caught on the screw on your embroidery hoop as you do a stitch? I have been annoyed for a long time and finally decided to do something about it. See my blog to find out how I solved this problem. http://www.therosejournal.blogspot.com What stitching problem have you solved or are you still dealing with?

Rose

[Shirley]

rose, if you keep the screw at 10 o'clock on the work whichever way it is facing that should solve the problem.

[Rose Kauhane]

Not for me cause of the way I stitch moving the hoop in my hand to different positions as I stitch. Maybe cause I'm left handed I don't know. I don't always get it caught on the screw just enough times to annoy me! So my solution works for me no matter how I hold the hoop. Trying to remember to keep the screw at a certain place would drive me crazy but thanks for the information as it might work for someone else!

[Margaret]

I do not have this problem as I use a plastic frame, it makes up to different sizes slotting together, I lay the work over it and then clip covers over the frame, think it was origionally designed for quilting but I find it works well for hand stitching.

[Grace Lister]

Shirley is right about the 10 o'clock position for right handers  but for left-handers it needs to be 2 o'clock position.  However, I was always told to put the screw to the top but this doesn't always work.  Margaret, as I work a lot of goldwork and whitework which needs the frame to be absolutely drum tight, the clip frames do not work for me as I find I can't clip the fabric tight enough.  The best frames really are the sit-at square or rectangular ones where you can stitch your fabric to the frame but these do take up a lot of room in normal sized houses.  I almost always use a screw ring frame for smaller pieces and screw it really, really tight with a screwdriver.  But do remember to remove the fabric after a bout of stitching otherwise you are left with a mark where the ring frame has been.  

[Rose Kauhane]

Hi ladies,

Thank you all for your input on this. It's fun to see what others do when they are working. I have the plastic type frame that I think Margaret is referring to but only one size. I have only used it in quilting and that maybe only twice. I haven't seen any smaller sizes so I'll keep my eye out for those. I have old hands that can no longer hold the larger hoops for any period of time. My go to hoop right now is the smallest oval hoop I could find, it's about  a 4 x 6 inch size. I do have a sit at frame that I bought a long time ago and have only used once or twice It's a Sew Now stand that you can clamp your framed work to with adjustable holders for different size frames. Maybe I'll try using it again one of these days. 

[Faith]

Oh, thank you for this tip! I never manage to keep the screw at 10 o'clock. Now if I can figure out a way to keep the thread from looping around my other kind of hoop (the kind that is an inner metal almost ring -- to the handles -- that fits into the groove of the plastic outer ring.) It's probably a machine hoop, but, except for those pesky handles, I like it better than the hoop with the screw.

[Grace Lister]

Faith.  That is one of the reasons that I don't use metal frames, the handles, but only the wooden ones.  At least, too, with the wooden ones you can place a ring of odd fabric around the ring to avoid marks from the ring itself and also bind the inner ring with fabric.  You can't do this with metal ones as the fabric keeps slipping.  

Rose, it sounds to me as if your sit-at frame would be your solution.  The only thing I would say is that you have to get used to using both hands, one under and one above, but once you have practised for a time it becomes second nature and you do get your work done faster.  I don't know about the adjustable clamp holders though as I have only used the old-fashioned wooden ones.   

[Rose Kauhane]

 Faith I know the type of hoop you mean, I've used that type too a few times but the "handles" are always in my way so I've gone back to the wooden ones.