What are embroidery hoops for? In order to evenly stretch the fabric with their help and so that your crosses come out even. There are many advantages to the hoop, but the main advantage is that you can do embroidery absolutely anywhere: in your favorite chair, on a sofa or bed. Now there is a great variety of hoops of different shapes, made of different materials and different designs. It all depends on your preferences. And traditional round hoops are now made in completely different variations.

Embroidering with a hoop

Perhaps, in the museum you will rarely find hoops, where you can often see clothes or household items that are decorated with embroidery. But, nevertheless, the hoop has a very rich and interesting history. The peoples of Asia were the first to master this type of needlework, then it became widespread among the Greeks and Romans. If we turn to the meaning of the word “hoop”, we will read that it came from the word “hoop”. And if we take Dahl’s dictionary, we will read that this word is interpreted as a women’s needlework workbench: a frame for stuffing the fabric on which they sew, which they quilt. Some scientists suggest that this is where the expression “stare eyes” came from. And this is true, because when you embroider you always look at the work. A rod bent into a ring, the fabric on which was stretched with a rope, this is the first hoop. It is not difficult to imagine that the whole structure was somewhat reminiscent of a drum.

In the 6th-5th centuries in ancient Greece, trapezoidal hoops came into use. During embroidery, they rested on the hips, which was very convenient. Slaves embroidered for sale, and wealthy ladies embroidered for pleasure. By the way, already at that time embroidery with satin stitch and cross was known. If we talk about Russian embroidery, the first written references date back to the 10th-12th centuries. In written sources of this period, transparent embroidery is mentioned, with the help of which a woman developed a character. And this is not surprising, since embroidery requires special patience. Embroidery also had another name – hooping. Girls learned needlework from an early age. The older they got, the more their skill level increased, as they learned more and more new embroidery techniques. Of course, sometimes when embroidering, you can do without a hoop, but for the best result, it is still better to stretch the fabric.

By the 19th century, the hoops were different shapes, but still one of the most popular was the round hoop. As a rule, they consisted of two rings. The fabric tension was adjusted using a special screw. Such a hoop was used for light fabrics. Also popular were rectangular hoops, with or without legs, detachable or deaf. And, if round hoops were used for light fabrics, then rectangular hoops were used for embroidering patterns on large canvas or canvas. If we turn to the golden type of sewing, then the technique of working with this sewing was somewhat more complicated than ordinary embroidery. First, the fabric must be stretched very well. Secondly, before starting work, cardboard was glued to the fabric, which was sheathed with gold thread. Tools for this type of embroidery were the simplest and most common: a thimble, a needle, an awl, scissors and a frame. What such a frame was like: four rounded beams, the length of which is 55 centimeters and a diameter of 2.5 centimeters. Sometimes the length of the beams could vary. It all depended on the size of the embroidery itself. In order to make a frame out of the bars, they were tied with ropes. While embroidering, they were put on their knees, while the upper edge was leaning on the table.

Over time, embroidery became more and more popular. And already in the 19th century, improved hoops began to appear, which only ladies from the upper classes could afford. Such hoops were made of mahogany or Karelian birch, that is, the varieties of trees were quite expensive. They looked like a table on which there was an adjustable frame, as well as a hinged lid, on which it was possible to fix all the tools necessary for the job. Women of non-privileged classes embroidered on ordinary rectangular frames at a common table. And, as a rule, girls began to learn the art of embroidery from the age of eight. In the village of Kresttsy, Nizhny Novgorod region, there are preserved old hoops. They were made of smooth perches and consisted of a square frame, which was mounted on racks of the desired height. Up to four embroiderers could work behind a large square hoop. Usually they were selected according to the level of skill, so that in the end the work of different craftswomen did not differ in quality. But it was not very convenient to embroider a large work on such a hoop, since there was no way to fix it completely, therefore each part of the product was embroidered separately, and then sewn together. We can say that such hoops are very much like modern hoops.

In the XX century, around the 30s, improved hoops were created. Such a hoop was a rectangular frame, which consisted of rollers and rulers that were attached across the frame. The fabric was sewn to the strips of fabric, with only two sides sewn, while the other two sides were sewn to the pouches. This design allowed the embroidered part of the work to be wound onto a roller, thereby the integrity of the work was not violated. By the way, in the village of Kresttsy you can still find the same hoops.

Embroidery hoop – modern perfection
Modern hoops, as mentioned above, come in completely different shapes and diameters. They can be round, oval, square and so on. The adjustment screw-clamp present on almost all hoops is extremely convenient. With it, you will stretch the fabric as you need. You can also find very interesting frame hoops. What is their uniqueness? And the fact that when embroidering, you fix the ends of the canvas on the reverse side and, upon completion of work, your embroidery will already be in the frame. In general, no matter what the hoop is, their goal is to facilitate the process of embroidery for needlewomen.