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DIY Tutorial: Super Sized Cross Stitch Ho Hoops

I’m giving away the secrets to how to make these large ho ho ho hoops today! These were on the front of the Not On The High Street Christmas catalogue last year so I’m very proud of them! You can still buy these if you wish on my Not on the High Street store, but because there is quite a bit involved in making them they are quite expensive. So for those of you who want to have a go yourself here’s how!

You will need:

Paper Templates (Download them here, here and here!)

Cutting Matt

Single Hole Punch

Air Erasable Embroidery Pen

1 x 20cm Embroidery Hoop

1 x 27cm Embroidery Hoop

1 x 30 cm Embroidery Hoop

Felt squares, 40cm, 36cm and 30cm.

Size 14 Chenille Needle 

Tape Yarn

A way of backing and finishing off your hoops.

Ribbon to hang.

 So the best thing to do is watch my IGTV video on this, as I only remembered to capture the first couple of steps on still photo! But I’ll take you through it here and it’s very simple. Mark out your holes by using the paper stencil, you’ll need to punch holes through the paper to make your stencil. Then place your felt in the hoop as tightly as you can. If you don’t mange to get it central don’t worry you can always move it later. 

Now thread your needle with about 40cm of tape yarn ( i said T-shirt yarn in the video but it’s actually tape yarn). And start to stitch in the crosses, keeping The diagonals consistent e.g. which ever way you go first, keep going that way first.

Follow the pattern until you’re done, then trim the edges of the felt, and finish the back off in which ever way you like, there are various options on Pinterest if you search ‘finish embroidery hoop’.

Tips for sewing with this thread, it is sometimes tricky to push it through the felt, that’s why I use a sharp needle. You’ll need to keep the thread flat, it can get twisted and not sit nicely against the felt. But other than that it’s pretty easy! 

I’m trying to work out a way to get your the pdf templates as I can’t seem to upload them to my blog! It might be I need to list them as a free download on my website. Watch this space!