How to frame embroidery in the hoop (gift-ready)

Before you frame it

Do the cleanup first. If you stitched through a stick and stitch sheet, rinse it away and let the linen dry until it's just damp. Press it face down on 2 or 3 folded towels so the stitches stay raised.

Then hold it up to a window. A skipped dot shows up at once, and adding a stitch is easy now, before the back is closed.

Step by step: a gift-ready hoop

1. Re-hoop it, centered. Lay the linen over the inner ring with the portrait in the middle and the grain running straight up and down. Press the outer ring down over it.
2. Tighten it for display. Ease the fabric taut all the way around, then tighten the screw. Turn the hoop so the screw sits at the top, centered over the dog's head. It becomes the hanger.
3. Trim the extra fabric. Cut the linen into a circle about 1 inch outside the hoop, enough to fold over the inner ring.
4. Gather the back. Sew a running stitch around the edge of the fabric with strong thread. Pull it tight like a drawstring so the fabric folds in over the inner ring, and tie it off.
5. Cut a felt circle. Trace around the inner ring on a piece of felt and cut just inside the line, so it fits snugly inside the back of the hoop.
6. Whip it on. Lay the felt over the back and stitch its edge to the gathered fabric with small whip stitches all the way around.
7. Sign the back. Write the dog's name and the date on the felt in pencil or fabric pen. In ten years you'll be glad you did.

Gathering, felt or glue?

Our pick for a gift is gathering plus felt. Is hot glue safe for embroidery? It holds, but it's permanent, and glue can show through thin linen as a mark. If you use it, keep it on the inner ring and the folded edge, never on the stitched area.

Hanging and displaying it

• Hang it from the screw. A small nail and the hoop's own brass screw are all you need. Hoops look good at eye level, or grouped with framed photos.
• Can you leave embroidery in the hoop? Yes, once it's finished and backed. A display hoop is meant to stay. While you're still stitching, though, unhoop it between sessions so the ring doesn't leave a mark.
• Keep it out of strong sun. Sunlight fades fabric and thread over time.
• Prefer a picture frame? Lace the stretched linen around a piece of acid-free board, then frame it with a spacer so the glass doesn't press on the stitches. A hoop is simpler for a first piece.

Making it gift-ready

Wrap it in plain kraft paper with twine and tuck in a short note: the dog's name and why you made it. If it's a Christmas present, the DIY Christmas gift guide has a stitching plan that finishes in time. Making one in memory of a dog? See the gentle pet memorial guide.

Questions people ask

Keep going

• How-to guideHow to remove stick and stitch (no residue)Trim, soak, rinse and dry: the calm, exact way to wash stick and stitch out of finished embroidery, and what to do if it stays sticky.
• Gift ideaDIY Christmas gift for a dog lover: stitch their dogStitch a portrait of their dog for Christmas, with a week-by-week plan to finish by December 25.
• Gift ideaPet memorial embroidery: stitch a keepsake of your dogA gentle guide to stitching a memorial portrait of your dog, from an old photo to the words beside it.
• ComparisonWhat size embroidery hoop should you use for your first project?A 6-inch hoop for a first pet portrait, and why. Every common size compared, plus how to hoop fabric drum-tight.
• Stitch guideHow to do a running stitchThe simplest stitch, an even dashed line for light outlines and borders.
• How-to guideHow to end embroidery thread (and keep the back neat)Tie off without a knot, know when to stop a thread, and keep the back neat so nothing shadows through light linen.