I’ve had some old embroidery hoops lying around…just waiting on me. So…I browsed Pinterest for some inspiration. A lot of good ideas out there. You can check out my favorites on my Pinterest board here. The best part is, embroidery hoops can be found at almost every thrift store. I think I got mine 5 for $1. I decided to repurpose mine into a bow holder for Savannah.
For this tutorial you’ll need the following:
To get started, layer the fusible fleece glue side to wrong side of your first fabric. Next, place your embroidery hoop on top of the fabric. This will serve as a guide as you rough cut around it. Be generous, so your not left shorthanded on fabric when you tighten your hoop. Then, iron the fusible fleece to the fabric.
For the circle and the initial, you will need to reference part one of my appliqué tutorial here. This will show you how to properly prep the appliqués. However, instead of adding a 2nd layer of fusible interfacing as the tutorial shows, add a layer of fusible fleece to both the circle and initial. This will give it a little dimension. Then apply your heat n bond and proceed as shown in the tutorial.
If you are going to appliqué, then skip this step and go here for part two of my appliqué tutorial. For all the non-sewers, you can outline the cut edges of the appliqués with fray check. This will prevent any fraying. Go slowly and only along the edges. This stuff will show on fabric and does not come off…so you don’t want to be globbing it on.
Again, using your hoop as a guide…center the appliqués on the right side of the first fabric. Once they are where you want them, remove the hoop and iron the appliqués down. Pin a piece of medium weight cut away stabilizer to the backside {do this only if you will be appliquéing.}
Once you have appliquéd, center your entire fabric in the embroidery hoop. When you have it centered, close and tighten the hoop. Next, mark a triangle at the top as shown. Cut around the triangle and then trim any excess fabric from the hoop. Tack the triangle down with some hot glue. This is going to prevent the fabric from buckling in the open space at the top of the hoop. Finally, attach ribbon at bottom center with hot glue. I used pinking shears and fray check to seal the end of my ribbon.
That’s it…you’re done and ready to hang some bows!
