I continue to learn during research for the Stitch Safari Podcast, and it’s wonderful, but embroidery is such an ancient craft that sometimes the information is just not there.  So where do we look?

Art.  Because, in this instance, that’s the only source left available to us.

What’s this episode about?  The quintessential embroidery frame and the later edition, the embroidery hoop.

I fully confess that I am no expert on hoops and frames; I usually try to avoid them.

However, there are times when a hoop or frame is necessary, if not mandatory, for both hand and machine embroidery, and every serious embroiderer would have at least one, if not a collection, of hoops or frames of different shapes and sizes.

So thank goodness for those long-ago artists who created artworks, mostly of women but also of men, perhaps professional embroiderers, busily stitching on frames.  This gives us a legacy of usage that dates back to medieval times.

Think about that – a tool still in use today, with a few modernisations and updates, that’s been used between 500 and 1500 CE, marking the period between the fall of the Roman Empire and the Renaissance.

How much further before that period is hard to say.

This is riveting stuff for any embroidery enthusiast because some embroidery work cannot be achieved without correct, concise and consistent tension, which is exactly what the frame and hoop provide.  Tension.  So, let’s acquaint ourselves with the variety of frames available to us and stretch our minds back through history to learn of their early usage.  Then we can catch up with later inventions that many of us are familiar with today – and let me warn you – there are a surprising number.

Join me as I jump through some hoops in today’s episode.

Embroidery frames and hoops would be an essential part of many embroiderers’ kit of necessary items, especially if tension is required to keep the ground fabric taut for perfect stitching, which is what we are all after.

This applies to both hand and machine embroiderers.  There are times when machine embroiderers need to work with a tensioned ground fabric, too, especially if the fabric is delicate and flimsy, but also as a means of control when changing direction working with the feed dogs down.

If you’re starting on your machine embroidery adventure, just remember to turn the hoop over and work with the fabric directly in touch with the arm of your machine.  That means the outer ring lays under the fabric and the inner ring on top of the fabric.

Hand embroidery, however, requires that the fabric is laid over the inner ring, then the outer ring is applied over the top.

I know it sounds like such a small differentiation, but it makes a huge difference.

Now, as with many embroidery tools, a variety of names are associated with a single item, and that’s exactly what I experienced with embroidery frames.  Especially from country to country.  Names kept changing from stretcher bar frames to slate frames, scroll, roller, tapestry and tambour frames – and the thing is they do offer differing functions.

So, let’s see if I can help clarify the best known of them to help better understand the world of frames and hoops.

A stretcher bar frame uses dovetailed frames that lock together so that fabric can be tacked onto the frame using thumbtacks.  They’re inexpensive, maintain good tension, and can be accommodated into many floor or table stands, allowing for freedom of hand movement.  However, re-tensioning requires the removal and replacement of many of those thumbtacks.

A slate frame, so named one source states, because broken frames were re-used by Victorian children to house their slates for schoolwork.

Modern slate frames are made up of two types of bars – one controlling tension from top to bottom and the other controlling side-to-side tension.  Two side slats fit into two roller bars.  Fabric is laced over the two side slats and sewn onto the two roller bars fitted with a strong, re-useable fabric strip or tape.

Slate frames can accommodate large pieces of fabric and maintain the best tension, leaving both hands free for stitching.  However, they can be expensive, large and bulky.  Trestles are required to support the frame, and the fabric takes a long time to set up or ‘dress’.

If, however, you’re working on a large project, this one sounds like the way to go from my perspective.  From my own very limited experience, it is tedious to stop stitching to re-tension fabric.  Getting the choice of frame right in the first place is common sense.

Now, scroll or roller frames are different again, consisting of a wooden frame with two cylindrical roller bars on the top and bottom, supported by two side bars.  This allows the fabric to be rolled onto the top and bottom bars, then tightened with knobs or wingnuts to keep the fabric taut.  Essentially, it looks like a rolling canvas where different parts of the work can be viewed or worked on.  They’re easily available and quick to set up, accommodating a range of different-sized projects as long as they fit within the width of the roller bars.  However, they rarely maintain good tension.

From historical images, however, embroidery frames appear far more rudimentary – and this is where the value of art comes in useful.  Working from old paintings, we can see that they were simply wooden square or rectangular frames used to lace the fabric over all four sides of the frame.  This created tension from both sides as well as from the top and bottom.

Now, there’s absolutely no reason why this can’t still be done.  Have a handyman in the family?  This option still sounds good to me.

It’s fairly easy and inexpensive.

The earliest pictorial reference I could find of an embroidery frame dates from 1379-1399 from an image out the Paduan Bible picture book, depicting two male embroiderers working on a large embroidery frame balanced on what looks like two moveable trestle legs. The work was laced around each edge of the frame.  They look to be working outside on a portico where the light is good yet where they are protected from the weather.  Were they professional embroiderers?  I suspect so.

However, I believe this style of embroidery frame dates back even earlier, there are just no sources to sustain this.

The Bayeux Tapestry, worked sometime in the 11th century, is thought to have been stitched on embroidery frames – and I use the plural here because the work was done by many embroiderers.  If that’s the case, embroiderers working in nunneries and convents around the same time would have been using similar embroidery frames as well.  Just how much before that time, we simply don’t know.

And let’s not forget that Chinese embroiderers were also working on embroidery frames to create those stunning Dragon Robes.  When were they first used in China? I’d love to know.  Dragon Robes and Chinese embroidery are well worth further investigation.

Now, let’s move onto the Tambour frame or hoop, which consists of two circular or elliptical rings – the larger with a tightening device usually in the form of a metal screw.  Work can be easily moved by loosening the screw, repositioning the fabric then re-tightening.  Hoops were originally made from wood, bone or ivory.  Modern hoops now also come in plastic.

Wooden tambour frames originated in India in the 16th century, with the name tambour coming from the French word for drum.  That makes sense because when the fabric is correctly tensioned in the hoop, a drum-like sound will be made when gently tapped.

They may be attached to a table top or floor stand, allowing freedom of movement for both hands, thus increasing the speed and precision of work produced.

Now, the tambour technique uses a hook rather than a needle, but the fabric still needs to be tensioned to allow the hook to pass easily through the fabric. The frame was and is used in lacemaking, working on silk net or delicate fabrics and bead and sequin work.  It was more portable than frames, making it popular with women and pieceworkers.

If you’re at all interested in top-of-the-range tambour work, just go to YouTube and search for Indian Tambour Embroiderers or watch this eight-minute video titled Hand Embroidery Ahmedabad.  It’s stunning work.  The video covers transferring a design, attaching the fabric to a frame, and working with both a tambour hook and an embroidery needle.  I could watch these embroiderers create those stunning designs all day long.

According to the Hand and Lock website, by the 20th century, tambour beading was established as the haute couture technique of choice by leading European coutouriers.

Early examples of tambour work come from India, China, Persia and Turkey, spreading to Britain, France, Ireland, Saxony and Switzerland.  It was introduced to North America in the early 1800s.

Another of its benefits is that the inner ring could be wrapped or bound to help protect delicate working fabrics and, because of its easy portability, could be worked outside in good light.

However, by the 1840s, tambour embroidery was losing popularity due to the advent of machinery that could produce similar work far more quickly.  Hand embroidery could not compete with the speed and efficiency of machine-made designs.

In 1903, American Helen Harmes was granted a patent for an adjustable embroidery hoop.  On those hoops, size adjustments could be made on both the inner and outer rings.  Wow, that’s interesting.  I couldn’t, however, find an image.

This invention re-ignited the popularity of embroidery.  Isn’t it amazing that such a simple innovation could have such a profound effect on embroidery?  But such was the case.

Now, let’s find out when to use a frame or a hoop.

Mary Corbet from her NeedlenThread website has some very simple criteria to help with these dilemmas.  When best to use a frame includes when the work will take a long time, when the work fits within the confines of the frame, when the techniques involved requires the use of or to make the work easier using two hands and lastly, when the technique is Goldwork or a similar technique requiring a constant, even tension throughout the entire stitching.

When is best to use a hoop?  When the project is small or when it’s preferable to be able to move the hoop around the work, such as in surface embroidery.

I’m currently working on a project for 2025 titled 100 Stitched Circles, and I bought many 4″ hoops.  I didn’t think about the quality so much as the number – I needed 100 after all.

Many of these hoops, however, when tightened, simply cracked or splintered – so quality matters.  I’ve learned my lesson.

Again, Mary Corbet advises purchasing a strong, solid birchwood hoop with brass hardware.  They don’t splinter and retain their shape, plus you also have to think of the depth of the hoop relative to the fabrics used.

That’s pretty good information, but another thing to think about is the size of the hoop relative to the size of your hands.  You have to feel comfortable with the hoop in your hand.

But embroidery hoops have moved on yet again.

Available at our fingertips now are spring hoops, flexi-hoops, snap hoops, oval and square hoops and non-slip hoops – we’re actually spoiled for choice.  I have just found a 360 Degree Adjustable Embroidery Hoop Stand – try saying that twelve times.  It does almost everything but stitch for you.

So, let’s go over these wonderful little delicasies.

A Flexi-hoop has a rigid inner plastic ring and a flexible outer hoop.  They come in different sizes and shapes and keep tension fairly well, however, they can’t be adjusted.

Snap hoops.  Some come with a magnetic snap feature, but I have rectangular plastic hoops that simply snap over each other without the magnetic feature.  They’re fast and easy to use, but tension isn’t maintained throughout the stitching.

Spring hoops are often used for machine embroidery.  They have a metal inner ring and a plastic outer ring with two handles to create a drum-like tension.  Perfect for working under that machine needle and is quick and easy to fit onto fabric.

Oval and Square hoops are attractive and modern.  Cross Stitchers often use them to frame their finished work – that’s a win-win.

A Non-Slip hoop has a lip or groove on the inner ring that secures fabrics in place, preventing slipping during stitching.  The design is often called tongue and groove and is particularly useful when working on delicate fabrics or when precise placement is required, such as for punch needle embroidery.

Now, in this delightfully digital world we live in, if you need help learning how to dress a frame or work with a hoop, there’s plenty of information available on YouTube or Google and buying hoops and frames online is always an option – just be informed so that you make the right choices.

Hoops can be used not only to maintain tension while stitching but also to display the finished work, as I’m doing with my 100 Stitched Circles.  En masse, they make a great installation.

They can be hung from the ceiling, used for 3D embroidery, and make fantastic wall art incorporating different shapes and sizes.

The ubiquitous hoop becomes a work of art and an expression of your creativity.  Think of the possibilities for creating cast shadows, backed by natural or artificial light.  All from this one simple tool most of us have at our fingertips.

Well, there we have frames and hoops in a nutshell. I’ve enjoyed researching them, and I’ve learned a lot.

Love them or hate them, I will be much more respectful of my hoops and frames in future – that’s for sure.

Good luck with yours!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mary Corbet, writer and founder of Needle ‘n Thread, has good advice on when to choose a stretcher frame or slate frame over a hoop that includes things like if the project would take a while, if the work fits within the confines of the frame, involves techniques that require two hands or that involves goldwork or a similar technique that requires consistent tension throughout the entire project.  Mary goes further, stating that she generally works with stretcher frames, but if the work is 18″ in either direction, then she uses a slate frame.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

history of embroidery frames on YouTube

Stitched Modern An essestial guide to embroidery hoops

https://stitchedmodern.com/blogs/news/an-essential-guide-to-embroidery-hoops?srsltid=AfmBOopmqU-dTqdU4Tgs0qXowaysrpry14q_vXLegP6gSFUEGtgBfEsS