You finished your embroidery! Congratulations! So now what? Time to finish the back of your embroidery hoop art.

Frame your lovely work in a hoop to either hang or give as a gift, covering the back and giving a professional finish to your embroidery. Whether you’ve stitched a cross stitch piece or completed an embroidery design, your work deserves to be finished in a creative way!

One (1) Finished Embroidery Hoop

How to Finish an Embroidery Hoop

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Active Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Finish off your embroidery projects in a hoop with a felt backing to give them a professional finish.

Use a coordinating color of felt, or try a pop of color to be a surprise! Either way, adding the felt will really finish off your embroidery project in a hoop.

I prefer a wooden hoop, but you can use plastic hoops that come in a variety of colors.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Read more about our affiliate linking policy.

Materials

Finished piece of embroidery in a hoop. I prefer a wooden hoop. You can paint the hoop, if you'd like.
Piece of felt big enough to cover the back of your embroidery hoop - use either a coordinating or contrasting color of felt
Coordinating thread that goes with the color of the felt

Tools

Hand sewing needle
Marking pen or pencil; I used a Frixion pen
Scissors

Instructions

Start by trimming your felt to about 1" larger than your hoop. You don't want too much excess fabric around the outside.
Thread your needle with regular sewing thread. Knot the thread. See our article on making a quilters knot. Sew a basting stitch around the edge of the fabric and pull taut to gather the fabric around the inner hoop on the back of the hoop.

NOTE: A basting stitch is a long running stitch. For this project, make your stitches about 3/8" long. Just weave your needle and thread in and out of the fabric.
Trace the hoop on the wrong side of a piece of felt. Most felt does not have a right and wrong side, but make sure that if you prefer one side over the other, that you mark the side that will be inside.

Trim the felt circle down just a bit so that it will fit just inside the outer hoop. I trimmed it about 1/4" inside the drawn line all around.
Thread your needle in a coordinating color. Carefully stitch the felt to the back of the embroidery along the edge of the hoop, catching both the felt and the embroidery fabric. I just used a whip stitch but you could also use a blanket stitch. Make sure to use tiny stitches so they don't show

Now your embroidery project has a nice finished back!

Notes

TIP: I like to use felt fabric because it doesn't ravel. If you use a piece of fabric, you'll need to worry about turning under the edges of the fabric for a nice finished edge. Also, it is easy to hand sew, and if the piece is hung on a wall, it is gentle on the wall paint.

Recommended Products

As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.

This is my preferred method to finish embroidery hoop art. You can spray paint your hoop a complementary or contrasting color to add more spark to your finished piece. Also, you can wrap the hoop with strips of fabric to add more visual interest to your finished piece. What matters is to enjoy your embroidery – don’t stick the finished piece in a drawer – put it on display and enjoy!

There are many different ways to finish your embroidery piece or cross stitch project in a hoop. Some people prefer to glue the backing to the edges of the hoop. The glue could be hot glue, craft glue or a fabric glue. I find it easier to stitch so you don’t need to worry about excess glue dripping on your stitching.

Finished hoop art project organizer with pearl cotton and pin cushion

Make a custom hoop art project organizer for the size of hoop you are using. This easy tutorial can be made any size to accomodate your hoop, threads, needle and embroidery scissors.