How to Make Your Own Wall Art with an Embroidery Hoop and Iron on Vinyl
Embroidery is on the rise! Whether it’s on denim jeans, suede jackets, or canvas shoes this trend is taking over! We wanted to get heat transfer vinyl in on a bit of the action with some DIY hand embroidered wall art. There are many cute projects you can make with just heat transfer vinyl, some cotton fabric, and an embroidery hoop (like these from Sugar Bee Crafts, and this July 4th one from A Girl and a Glue Gun, or these nursery art hoops, or even this one with pom pom trim!) But I wanted to incorporate embroidery floss and HTV to make one adorable gift for Mother’s Day! Keep reading to see what materials are needed for this project!
Supplies for DIY Embroidery Hoop Art
- Siser® EasyWeed® Heat Transfer Vinyl (I’m using purple)
- Cotton Fabric
- Embroidery Floss
- Embroidery needle
- Home Iron
- Heat Transfer Cover Sheet
- Craft Cutter
- Scissors
- Ribbon optional
Step 1: Create, Cut, and Weed Your Design
Start by making your design in your cutter software. For this project I used Silhouette Studio. This design is really simple with a heart in the center and two M’s surrounding it. The font is called Hand Stitched and I love to use it for faux embroidery looks, but today I’m going to use it as guidelines for my stitches!
Cut HTV with the shiny carrier side down and your artwork mirrored. Our suggested cut settings for EasyWeed can be found on the Siser website. After cutting, remove the excess using your Siser Weeder.
Step 2: Iron Your Fabric and EasyWeed Heat Transfer Vinyl
With your iron on the cotton setting, press out any wrinkles before decorating the fabric.
Use your embroidery hoop as a guide when placing the HTV. Make sure to leave some excess fabric around the edges. That will make it easier to gather them at the end. When the HTV is in place, take the hoop away and replace it with a heat transfer cover sheet. Us your iron to press firmly on each area of the design for 15-20 seconds.
Since EasyWeed is a hot peel, you don’t have to wait for the carrier to cool before peeling it away.
Step 3: Assemble Your Embroidery Hoop
Twist the screw on top of the embroidery hoop (1) to separate the inner and outer hoops from each other (2.) Stack the smaller one under the fabric and the larger one on top (3.) Pull the fabric taught while tightening the top screw to secure the fabric between the hoops (4.)
Now you can trim around the hoop and save the extra cotton fabric for future projects. For some, this project is practically finished. If your embroidery hoop is only going to be decorated with HTV, you can jump to Step 5.
Step 4: Stitch it!
Thread your embroidery needle with a coordinating or contrasting embroidery floss, and start stitching from the back. Poke the needle through to the front and use the HTV guidelines as you stitch back and forth.
This stitching style is similar to the running stitch, and is good practice for young ones who may be interested in sewing or embroidery.
When you reach the end of the letter, tie the embroidery floss in a knot in the back and trim the thread. Now you can repeat this process on the other “M.”
Step 5: Finishing Touches
Gather the extra fabric on the batch using a running stitch along the edges. Pull the string tight to pull the fabric in and hiding it behind the embroidery hoop.
When you’ve stitched all the way around the circle, knot the embroidery floss and trim away an large pieces of extra fabric.
When all is said and done, the back should look something like the photo on the left. And the front should give no hint of the messy stitching that hides on the back.
If you’re feeling fancy, a bow is easy to add with a bit of ribbon.
This embroidery hoop art is ready to be hung on the wall! See how the embroidery stitches add 3-D detail?
I just can’t get enough of DIY embroidery hoop art! I think the hoops are just so adorable, and it’s the perfect chance to use up scrap fabric that are too pretty to pitch but too small for many sewing projects. Whether you whip one up for Mother’s Day or are thinking of ones you could make for yourself, be sure to pin the image below so you can look back on it when it’s your turn to craft!
Clever, might use it for my kids!
This DIY project is amazing! I love it.
Thank you, Kate :)