Sunday, February 7, 2016

DMC Alphabet Heart Cross Stitch, Hoop Finish.

I recently decided that I wanted to gift someone in my life a crossed stitched piece. I chose my DMC heart shaped alphabet, seen here in Not the Right Finish. This was a project that I really enjoyed and the chart is available from the DMC website here, for free.

Having seen a number of hoop finishes online I decided it would be perfect for this, only problem was I had never done one before. So back to the trusty internet I went and found a number of pictures of how to put a hoop finish together. The two main techniques appear to be gluing excess fabric to the hoop or to use a running stitch to gather the fabric at the back.


DMC Alphabet Heart Cross Stitch Hoop Finish. Handmade by Pulltheotherthread
DMC Alphabet Heart Cross Stitch Finish

As I had left myself short in the excess fabric department, I was stuck with having to use the glue method. I got myself all set up and trimmed the fabric into a rough circle. Then I used my Fabric Mod Podge to stick the evenweave in place. This method worked well enough, however I did have to carefully trim away some of the clumps of fabric at the back after it had been glued. The Fabric Mod Podge gives a really good bond without a lot of mess. In fact it worked so well, that once the glue had dried it was there to stay, there is no way to remove the stitching from the hoop that I can see.


I also cut a circle of batting to put in behind the cross stitch, to give it a slightly domed effect, and foam core to finish it off neatly. Unfortunately I miscalculated with the foam core and ended up cutting it too small, so I had do it again, which was frustrating but not a major problem.


I’m quite happy with the result and I think the shape of the stitching works well with this style of finish. Next time I think I will use the running stitch method, as it seems to allow more flexibility and room for error. I will have to leave enough excess fabric to facilitate this though.


The lovely Rhona from Tangled Threads also stitched this piece using different colour threads. She finished it as a gorgeous heart shaped hanging, click here to see it!


Has anyone else attempted a hoop finish? What method did you use and how did you find it? Please let us know in the comments below.

50 comments:

  1. Lovely stitching and I'm glad the hoop finish worked out.

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    1. Thanks so much for your comment. I'm delighted it worked, if it hadn't I'm not sure what I would have done. It might have resulted in having to scrap the stitched piece altogether :O

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  2. What an unusual piece! I've never tried framing in a hoop. Yours looks perfect to me!

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    1. Thanks so much for your comment Justine. I had never thought of this type of finish either, I just came across it online and thought it looked really nice with certain type of stitched piece.

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  3. I have not myself, but my grandmother used to do hoop framing and she would hand lace the back.

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    1. Thanks so much for your comment. I love hearing about others who used these techniques.

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  4. Lovely!! Looks beautiful on the hoop :)

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    1. Thanks so much for your comment Nia. I just thought the heart shape would work really well with a hoop finish. I'm delighted with how it turned out.

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  5. What a lovely design,I like it framed in the hoop.

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    1. Thanks so much for your comment Lesley. I too love the hoop finish and now that I have done it once, I think it will be a technique I will using again in the future.

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  6. Gorgeous finish! I have never attempted a hoop finish, this looks fantastic.

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    1. Thanks so much for your great comment. I always thought it was a waste of a hoop but this type are actually pretty reasonable and it cost less than most frames.

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  7. Congrats on the pretty finish. You did a great job with the hoop finishing.

    Linda

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    1. Thanks so much for your comment Linda. I'm really happy with how this turned out. I'm looking forward to trying out the running stitch technique in the future.

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    1. Thanks so much for your comment Heather. I'm so delighted with the response about this piece and how well it turned out. It just fits this hoop size nice and snuggly.

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  9. Such a pretty finish and so perfectly framed, especially for a first attempt. The recipient should love it! :)

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    1. Thanks so much for your comment. The back is hiding a number of mistakes but the front looks nice, which is the important thing.

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    1. Thanks so much for your comment. I'm really looking forward to trying the running stitch technique in the future as this was quite a fun finishing.

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  11. Super pretty finish, you can be proud of yourself!

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    1. Thanks so much for your comment. Thanks also for the great ego boost :)

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    1. Thanks so much for your comment. It actually worked out quite well.

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  13. Thank you for sharing the link to this free chart --- also thank you so much for sharing your instructions on finishing in a hoop. It's beautiful

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    1. Thanks so much for your great comment. Once I try out the running stitch technique I will try and get a tutorial up on both methods.

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  14. Such a lovely finish. Thanks for sharing!

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    1. Thanks so much for your comment. I am so glad that you liked this finish.

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  15. Congrats on the finish! I've never done a project that would lend itself to the hoop finish, but now I want to!

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    1. Thanks so much for your comment. I'm glad that this finish has inspired you. I'm looking forward to my next hoop project.

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  16. Fantastic finish - I love your colors for this. Coincidentally, I was putting away some of my stash last night and this pattern fell out and I was sorely tempted to start it ;)

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    1. Thanks so much for your comment. I'm not surprised you were tempted by this pattern, I fell in love with it when I first saw it and just knew it had to be stitched. I am planning to do it again at some stage in a different colour way.

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    1. Thanks so much for your comment Faith. I love how the letters just fir together so well to form that pretty heart shape.

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  18. Stopped at your blog and enjoyed it much!
    This heart is very elegant and nice, sewn with a delicate colour sense

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    1. Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving a comment. The colours used in this piece are the charted ones but I'm hoping to stitch it again in different threads.

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  19. Gorgeous finish! I've never used a hoop finish, but I love the way they look :D

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    1. Thanks so much for your comment. I have been wanting to do a hoop finish for a while now as I thought they were so pretty and different from my usual finishes.

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  20. Thanks so much for your comment. It is such a pretty pattern, it just works with the hoop I think.

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  21. It's a lovely design, beautifully stitched with a great finish :-)

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    1. Thanks so much for your comment. For a simple stitch it turned out really well, I'm very happy with the finish.

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  22. That looks so wonderful, what a finish! Well done:)

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    1. Thanks so much for your comment. I'm just happy my first attempt at a hoop finish didn't end in disaster.

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  23. This looks great! Can you remind me what thread you used? The verigated affect is beautiful

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    1. Thanks so much for your comment. I used the charted DMC variegated thread, no: 4015, 4065 & 4045.

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  24. Congrats on a lovely finish! I've been wanting to try one of these hoop finishes too :)

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    1. Thanks so much for your comment. They aren't nearly a scarey as I thought they would be so I would encourage you to definitely give them a try.

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  25. I love how you've finished this! It looks so pretty.

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    1. Thanks so much for your comment Sally. I'm so glad you like it, I'm very happy with how it came together in the end.

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  26. Really awesome! Like it very much!

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Would love to read any comments you would like to leave. Thanks for brightening my day :)