7 Ways to Decorate Your Embroidery Hoop

Finishing your cross stitch in embroidery hoops is one of most inexpensive ways to frame your pieces. Not to mention they are so freakin’ cute.

There’s so much versatility when it comes to decorating your finished project.

You could make them into wall hangings, ornaments, or do a double hoop wreath. The options are limitless.

But how do we turn these drab wooden hoops into something glamorous? The color of bamboo isn’t anything special.

Let’s get creative!

1. Acrylic Paint

Painting Hoops is one of my favorite ways to decorate a hoop.

Bright pops of color can really bring out the colors in a piece. Even better would be to paint the hoop a complementary color to make the floss stand out!

If you are artistic and want to go a step further, try adding a design to the hoop or incorporating the hoop into the project.

I made a Pokemon themed ornament for my brother one year and painted the hoop to look like a Poke Ball. It came out so cute!

2. Watercolor or Stain

If you want a more translucent look to show off the wood texture, use watercolor or a wood stain. 

Using watercolor will add a subtle tint of color while still letting that wood grain show through.

If you want more natural tones you could use a brown variation of watercolors or use wood stain.

The benefit of using watercolors over a wood stain is that it’s less messy and can easily be cleaned up.

3. Yarn Wrapping

Have some leftover yarn laying around? Why not wrap it around your hoop?

You can add one color similar to painting your hoop or use multiple colors for a gradient effect.

Wrapping your hoop with yarn will give your hoop an interesting texture that is soft!

4. Decoupage

Decoupage EVERYTHING! Using Mod Podge to decoupage is a lot of fun and very addictive. I have used wrapping paper, but you would use tissue paper, napkins, or any decorative, thin paper.

You might want to score your paper so that it easily folds around your hoop or cut the paper into smaller pieces.

This can get a little messy since the surface area is so small. No worries, Mod Podge washes off.

5. Fabric

I usually have scraps of fabric from various projects. What better way to use up these extra bits other than to wrap them on my hoop?

You can wrap the fabric around your hoop, but I don’t like the way the edges fray so I just wrap a long strip around, similar to how I wrapped the wrapping paper for decoupage.

You could even decoupage the fabric! This will give it a different finish. Personally, I like the look of the fabric. 

The fabric should easily contour to the shape of your hoop. Then fold over and glue down the edges. 

I use a hot glue gun because I am impatient. If this is your preferred method as well make sure not to add too much glue otherwise it could be too bulky and there will be a gap between the hoop and the stitching.

6. Ribbon or Trim

Ribbon is not only a great way to add color but to add texture as well.

There are so many different ribbons you could use to embellish your hoop. You could use pom poms, small crochet ribbon, or rick rack. The possibilities are endless!

The perfect way to finish off your hoop is to add a bow just to make it look extra cute.

7. Crochet

Crocheting a border around your embroidery hoop gives it such a whimsical, sweet dimension.

Imagine crocheting a yellow scallop border around a pattern of bees and honeycomb. So delightful.

One of my other hobbies is crocheting and I can’t believe I have never tried this! Crocheting a border around my hoop is definitely on my list for finishing that I need to try.

Final Thoughts

So many options to add more interest to your stitching. 

You can choose colors that match your threads to give the hoop a more natural pop of color. Or choose a contrasting color to make your project stand out.

Match the hoop with some intriguing patterns that complement your pattern.

Decorating embroidery hoops offers limitless possibilities for finishing. Get creative.

Happy Stitching!