Hoop love

A little while back I received a spate of emails and messages from people telling me how much they loved the hoop and stand that they had bought from me. Here’s an example:

“Just wanted to let you know how pleased I am with the embroidery stand and hoop. So glad you recommended it… it makes the “job” so much more comfortable.”

You’ve probably heard me wax lyrical before about the hoop and stand sets that I sell. I sell them simply because I love them and I think that they are a GREAT product. You can see that I was using mine in yesterday’s picture of the Schwalm embroidery.

Why do I love them so much? Let me count the ways… 🙂

• You don’t have to hold the hoop yourself, as the stand does it for you. This leaves both hands free to hold your needle and manipulate your thread. Occasionally I come across a customer who has movement issues with one hand. These hoops with stand are the perfect product for that, as the stand acts as an extra hand for you.
• You can flip the hoop up to easily get to the back of the work so that you can anchor threads or check for unwanted thread tangles. (see picture F)
• You can turn the hoop so that you can access a different part of the stitching. (pictures B and C)
• You can move the whole hoop up and down so that it is right up close, or a little lower down. (picture D)
• The hoop is strong, sturdy and deep. When you’re working with thin and flimsy fabrics, this isn’t quite so important. But when you’re working with a heavier embroidery such as Mountmellick embroidery, you want to know that the hoop won’t warp or even pop off. At the recent craft show, one customer said that she loved using hers with a big woollen blanket that she recently made. It took the weight of the heavy blanketing off her, and she said she couldn’t have managed without the hoop and stand.
• The wood is lovely to look at and very smooth to feel. The look and feel says quality, and it is quality.
• The kidney shaped base goes under your legs either from the side, or between the legs – whichever feels more comfortable. I use mine between my legs. This gives the hoop a great stable base. You can use it on pretty much any sort of surface. I regularly use mine while sitting on the pudgy lounge, but it also works on harder surfaced chairs, such as wooden benches (at the swimming pool!) and kitchen r dining room chairs.
• The whole thing is small enough to be portable. I regularly pack mine up into a tote bag or backpack and take it with me to my daily activities, so that I can happily work on my embroidery while I am waiting for children, sitting on a train etc.
• One small detail that I particularly love is the tightening screw, which has a slot for a screw driver. This means that you can REALLY tighten the hoop – without it, fingers just can’t get a hoop tight enough. I don’t actually use a screw driver for tightening mine; I have a small metal ruler that I slot into the grove to tighten with. It means I don’t have to carry a screw driver with me (I sometimes wonder if that could look too much like a weapon when I am out and about!) but instead I always have a ruler with me which is useful for measuring! (see picture E)

You can probably think of other reasons you love your hoop and stand for – so please share them with us. And if you haven’t tried one of these fantastic products yet, head on over to the Vetty Creations website embroidery hoop and stand page, and ensure one is on its way to you!

If you’ve never used a hoop before, Mary Corbet has some excellent information about setting up a hoop, over on her wonderful blog.