Embroidery hoops and
frames are tools used to keep fabric taut while working
embroideryEmbroidery is the art or handicraft of decorating fabric or other materials with needle and thread or yarn. Embroidery may also incorporate other materials such as metal strips, pearls, beads, quills, and sequins....
or other forms of
needleworkNeedlework is a broad term for the handicrafts of decorative sewing and textile arts. Anything that uses a needle for construction can be called needlework...
.
An embroidery hoop or (earlier)
tambour frame consists of a pair of concentric
circularA circle is a simple shape of Euclidean geometry consisting of those points in a plane which are equidistant from a given point called the centre. The common distance of the points of a circle from its center is called its radius....
or
ellipticalIn mathematics, an ellipse is the bounded case of a conic section, the geometric shape that results from cutting a circular conical or cylindrical surface with an oblique plane...
rings. The larger ring has a tightening device, usually in the form of a metal screw. The artisan repositions the hoop as needed when working over a large piece of fabric.
Embroidery hoops and
frames are tools used to keep fabric taut while working
embroideryEmbroidery is the art or handicraft of decorating fabric or other materials with needle and thread or yarn. Embroidery may also incorporate other materials such as metal strips, pearls, beads, quills, and sequins....
or other forms of
needleworkNeedlework is a broad term for the handicrafts of decorative sewing and textile arts. Anything that uses a needle for construction can be called needlework...
.
Hoops
An embroidery hoop or (earlier)
tambour frame consists of a pair of concentric
circularA circle is a simple shape of Euclidean geometry consisting of those points in a plane which are equidistant from a given point called the centre. The common distance of the points of a circle from its center is called its radius....
or
ellipticalIn mathematics, an ellipse is the bounded case of a conic section, the geometric shape that results from cutting a circular conical or cylindrical surface with an oblique plane...
rings. The larger ring has a tightening device, usually in the form of a metal screw. The artisan repositions the hoop as needed when working over a large piece of fabric. Embroidery hoops come in various sizes and are generally small enough to control with one hand and rest in the lap. Hoops were originally made of
woodWood is an organic material; in the strict sense wood is produced as secondary xylem in the stems of trees . In a living tree it transfers water and nutrients to the leaves and other growing tissues, and has a support function, enabling woody plants to reach large sizes or to stand up for themselves...
,
boneBones are rigid organs that form part of the endoskeleton of vertebrates. They function to move, support, and protect the various organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells and store minerals. Bone tissue is a type of dense connective tissue...
, or
ivoryIvory is formed from dentine and constitutes the bulk of the teeth and tusks of animals such as the elephant, hippopotamus, walrus, mammoth and narwhal....
; modern hoops are made of wood or
plasticPlastic is the general common term for a wide range of synthetic or semisynthetic organic amorphous solid materials suitable for the manufacture of industrial products...
. Hoops may be attached to a table-top or floor stand when both hands must be free for sewing, as in making
tambour laceTambour lace refers to a family of lace made by stretching a fine net over a frame and creating a chain stitch using a fine hook to reach through the net and draw the working thread through the net....
. Standing floor frames and lap frames allow the crafter to keep both hands free for working, which increases the speed and precision of work performed.
Very thin plastic hoops are also used in
machine embroideryMachine embroidery is now so heavily utilized for product branding, corporate advertising, uniform adornment and also for personal sewing and craft projects by hobbyists that the word "embroidery" is now generally more readily associated with forms of Machine Embroidery than any of the more...
.
Scroll frames
A scroll frame or embroidery frame keeps the entire piece of fabric taut, rather than just the piece being worked. It is made of four pieces of wood: two rollers for the top and base, and two side pieces. Each of the rollers has a piece of fabric securely nailed or stapled along it and holes in its ends to hold the side pieces, which can be secured in place with
wing nutsA nut is a type of hardware fastener with a threaded hole. Nuts are almost always used opposite a mating bolt to fasten a stack of parts together. The two partners are kept together by a combination of their threads' friction, a slight stretch of the bolt, and compression of the parts...
to adjust the width of the frame and the tautness of the stretched fabric. The ends of the ground fabric are sewn to the rollers, which are turned until the area of the fabric to be worked is stretched within the frame.
Frames are used in
needlepointNeedlepoint is a form of canvas work embroidery, in which yarn is stitched through an open weave canvas in which vertical and horizontal threads are formed to make precise holes between the thread and then hand painted or printed with a design. Stitchers use different coloured yarn or thread to...
and other forms of
canvas workCanvas work is a type of embroidery in which yarn is stitched through a canvas or other foundation fabric. Canvas work is a form of counted-thread embroidery...
as well as embroidery.
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