In this post, I’m gong to show you how to make a cross stitch storage hoop with a free pattern in 10 steps.
I love these hoops because you can put things high up out of little hands, such as scissors, glue, felt pens and basically anything they can use to destroy your house.
In fact, I have another tutorial on making a mini scissor holder using the same techniques as below.
To Make a Cross Stitch Storage Hoop You Will Need:
- Aida or evenweave to stitch on (at least 10 x 10 inches)
- A desgin to stitch on it
- Coloured cotton that will show in your hoop (at least 10×10 inches)
- Coloured felt to make your flowers (at least 5 x 3 inches)
- White felt to back your hoop (at least 8 x 8 inches)
- Pom-pom balls
- DMC threads
- An 8 inch hoop
- Scissors
- Needle
- Pencil
- Pom-pom trim (optional)
- Screwdriver (optional)
- Sewing machine (optional)
- Iron (optional)
- Glue gun (optional)
I highly recommend Love Crafts* for all of your needlecraft supplies such as aida, DMC threads and a hoop.
For your felt and pom-pom balls I love Cloud Craft. They use 100% wool felt which can be hard to find. Oh, and they match DMC thread colours for you which is perfect for this tutorial.
Step 1 – Stitch Your Free Design
You can download the free cross stitch pattern used in this tutorial here or use one you already have.
Stitch your design on at least 10x 10 inches if you are using an 8 inch hoop. You want your fabric at least 2 inches bigger than the hoop you use.
You can stitch your design on either 16 count aida or 32 count evenweave but I recommend evenweave because it’s easier to fold and get in the hoop. And for the rest of this tutorial I will refer to evenweave as that is what I used.
I have a tutorial on stitching on evenweave here if you are new to it.
When stitching your design, stitch your design, stitch it much lower than the centre; you want most design on the bottom half rather than the top.
Step 2 – Cut Out Your Felt
Use the inner part of the hoop and draw around it on your felt. Then cut it out and put it aside for later.
Step 3 – Fold or Stitch Your Evenweve
Your evenweave needs to be secured at the top so it doesn’t fray. You can do this 2 ways.
Either fold over your design, leaving a little margin above your words and use a sewing machine (or stitch by hand) to stitch a straight line across the top. Then cut off the excess evenweave at the back.
Or a quicker way (and the one I used for this tutorial) is to fold your even weave completely in half and iron the fold. The fold at the top will stop the fraying and as long as both layers of evenweave are in the hoop this should secure it.
Step 4 – Iron Your Fabric
Now, I did skip this step (as you can tell below) but if you would like to iron it then you can.
If you would prefer to leave it then most of the creases get pulled out when it goes in the hoop.
Step 5 – Put Everything Together
First, get the inner hoop and put it on a flat surface. Then put your piece of coloured fabric on it.
Next put your evenweave on half way down the hoop, ensuring the bottom will be “caught” by the hoop. You can see me checking this by pushing on the fabric and seeing where the hoop is under it.
Last to go on is the top hoop. Open the screw as much as you can then place it over the fabric and evenweave.
Next, tighten it so it’s secure but not too tight and then pull the evenweave taught and tighten the screw a bit more. Then pull the fabric taught and tighten the screw a bit more. And repeat, working your way around the hoop. It can get a bit fiddly!
Once you have gone most of the way around you may find you can’t tighen any more with your hand but some of the fabric is still a little loose/not taught enough (you want it to be like a drum).
If this happens, you can use screw driver to tighen the screw on top. I find I need this more when I have folded the evenweave completely in half as there are a extrea layers of fabric in the hoop.
Step 6 – Back Your Hoop
To back your hoop, first cut off the corners of your fabric and evenweave to make it more even around the edges.
Then do a running stitch (just in and out of the fabric) all the way around the fabric, bunching it up at the back as you go.
Next, place the felt you cut out in step 2 on the back of the hoop pencil side down to hide those marks. You then use a blanket stitch to attach the felt or use a glue gun to stick it on.
If you need further felt with a running stitch and blanket stitch I have a video tutorial on backing your hoop here.
Step 7 – Make Your Flowers
I have made my flowers from felt, but you can also use cotton. You use the same technique and the flowers will sit flatter on your evenweave.
I have a video below on how to make the flowers of if you prefer photos then keep scrolling.
First, cut out your felt into strips of 5×1 inch.
Next, use a running stitch (just in and out of the felt) and stitch a straight line along the bottom of the strip. I recommend using similar coloured thread and felt here.
Bunch the felt together, and do a little backstitch at the end to secure it.
Your 2 ends should naturally come together; use a whip stitch to secure them. Take your needle through both pieces, come back on yourself and go through both pieces again etc, working your way up the edge and back down again. Secure with a knot at the end and snip your excess thread off.
That’s it! (Well, for now anyway).
Step 8 – Add Pom-Pom Trim
Use PVA glue to stick your pom-pom trim around the outer hoop. Work in sections, adding a little glue then sticking some time down and repeat around your hoop until you reach the end and snip the excess off.
Leave it to dry for about half an hour.
Step 9 – Get Your Glue Gun Out
Glue your pom pom balls to the middle of the flower. If you want you can use buttons as a substitute and if you don’t have a glue gun then your can stitch them into the middle using a matching coloured thread.
Now use your glue gun to put some glue on the bottom of the flowers and stick them to the evenweave.
You can choose the layout, but I just went for 3 flowers with the middle sitting slightly lower, so it’s almost smile-like.
Again if you don’t have a glue gun you can stitch the flowers on.
Step 10 – Finishing Touches
Now add some ribbon or twine to the screw, hang your hoop up and fill it with all of those crafty tools.
And you’re done!
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