When do you use a hoop?

[Marjolein]

Hi,
From what I read in books and on the internet, it's recommended to use a hoop.
For some embroidery (threadpaing for instance) it's ok, but what about stemstitch, it's a stitch you do in one movement (down and up). And bullion knots etc.?
I would like to know when you use a hoop, and do you ever stitch from the top, down and up again in one movement. Do you hold the hoop or once and a while the fabric, when it's hard to pull the needle through.
Marjolein

[Elizabeth]

I almost always use a hoop for hand embroidery, really the only exception being bullion knots as they really do require up and down in one needle stroke. Stem stitch doesn't really, you can do that in 2 strokes and it might even disturb the tension to do it in one. I've never heard of stem stitch being done in one needle stroke before, although I can visualise how that might come about. My opinion is that it's best done in 2, with a hoop.=)

[AMBER RUTZ]

I, persona;;y, never use a hoop. I guess I learned to embroider so long ago, and so far away, that hoops were unheard of. Actually, my Grandmother taught me, and she never used one, so I never learned to. I can see where a hoop might help, but I just never think to get one.

[Marjolein]

That are two totally different reactions ;)
I too learned to embroider without a hoop, for some work it is useful I think, but you have to get used to it..

Elisabeth, when you do a stemstitch, do you pull the thread totally through in the first half of the stitch?
If you do, don't you find it hard te see exactly where you come up again?
I don't pull the thread totally through so I can see better where I come up, but then you have to keep the thread away from the place where you come up.

Here is a picture of stemstitch from Sharon's stitchdictionary

[Elizabeth]

Yes, I pull all the way through but no, I don't find it hard to see where to come up again, I just run my needle under the fabric until it comes to the right place - just the same as working out where to come up in any stitch really. I sometimes need to push the previous stitch over a tiny bit so as to avoid inadvertant split stitch!!!

I learned my best stem stitch from a combination of the video tutorial on Helen M Stevens site (a big hoop fan, and hoops/frames have been around a LONG time!!!) and an RSN kit. Always work from the outside of the curve in and, according to the RSN, well-worked stem stitch should look like finely woven rope!=)

I learned with a hoop, I'm glad to say and, if I have to work something in hand, then I find my hand gets cramped and painful very quickly. Also, you can't easily use both hands for something if you have to have one always holding the fabric. With a frame, free-standing or otherwise (as you can often balance it against yourself somehow if the other hand is needed) you can work with both hands easily and tension is kept even for you.

Except for things like cross stitched bookmarks and other very tiny pieces like that where the fabric just won't go in a frame, I would always use a frame. The only exception recently was an applique piece where it just wouldn't fit without crushing the sheer fabrics and the fabric was firm enough not to worry about tension. It seems to me that all pros use hoops and frames (and teach the use of them), and things I've seen done without have been sadly puckered.=( I daresay it's possible to work without, but I couldn't recommend it.

Sharon would have to comment herself, but it's possible that the picture she has demo-ing stem stitch was done in one needlestroke for clarity within one picture - if I'm making any sense there!!!=)

[Romilly]

Late to the conversation, as usual, but I find this so interesting! I do stem/outline stitch with one stroke in a hoop. That's how my grandmother taught me when I was 9, and although every once in a while I'll stitch it with a stabbing motion, I get more even tension and a smoother line with the sewing motion!

I prefer a small (6 inch) hoop to a large one, although if I'm doing goldwork or something fragile like silk embroidery I'll use a larger one or a square frame in a stand.

[Marjolein]

Romilly, you say you do stem/outline stitch with one stroke in a hoop. Don't you stretch your fabric very taut?
I've tried to stitch in one stroke, but I found I had to "help" the fabric with my left hand (needle in the right hand).

[Romilly]

When I'm working stem stitch the fabric is a little looser than I'd normally keep it in a hoop. It's firm, but not taut-- just enough that when I push my left index finger behind the fabric it comes up slightly to let me stitch through it.

When I move on to french knots, or satin stitch, or pretty much anything but stem or running stitch I'm right back to drumhead tight! Actually, that's not completely true. I also tend to work chain and reverse chain in one motion as well.

[Marjolein]

Thank you for your clear explanation, I will experiment with it.

[Carol-Anne]

I didn't use a hoop at first, but since I learnt to use a hoop, I use a hoop or a frame for nearly every thing. I also prefer to have my hoop/frame in a stand so I can use both hands to embroider. It is a little awkward at first but once I got the hang of it, it made total sense to do it that way.

Marjolien, when I do stem stitch in the hoop, I pull the thread all the way though, but loosely so I can nudge it aside with my needle or my thumb nail or my tekobari ( a tool I use for Japanese Embroidery) and then snuge the stitch in with a tug, when I pull the thread back to the front.

CA

[DebraAnn]

I almost always use a hoop, except on fragile fabrics which I put interfacing on the back of the project to keep it kind of stiff. Unless it is apparel then I just wing it and hope the tension works out.

[Marjolein]

Thank you for your explanations.

Elisabeth, you talked about cramped hands when you work something in hand. That's exactly what I had when I first used a hoop. I held it too tight.

Carol-Anne, you said "I can nudge it aside with my needle" . That's what I wanted to ask, but I couldn't find the words for it.

[sharonb]

I am hoop person too - as I learnt that way but also because it keep tension more even - for me anyway