Hoop Dream

Step 1 Gather your materials. Compare your embroidery hoop to your choice of fabric to ensure you have enough material. Iron your fabric.

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Jazz up your walls or windows using repurposed fabric and an embroidery hoop.

This DIY allows you to customize your walls or windows for special days such as Christmas or Valentine’s Day. It’s easy, fun and low cost. What’s more, you can easily score most of your supplies at your local Salvation Army thrift store. Perfect! Supplies Needed: Fabric (e.g., scrap fabric, a thrifted blouse or even a scarf), embroidery hoop, scissors, iron, paintbrush or sponge brush, Mod Podge or white glue, ribbon or string. Optional: paint, Sharpies or decorative tape to add colour to the hoop; jewelry or buttons to add flair.

Step 2 Loosen the outer hoop to remove the inner hoop. Place the inner hoop underneath the fabric. Step 3 Adjust the placement before adding the outer hoop. Add the outer hoop then start to tighten it. For this step, you can pull the fabric to remove any wrinkles and looseness.

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Step 4 After tightening the outer hoop, trim the fabric using scissors. Make sure you’re happy with the placement before cutting. Once the fabric is trimmed, there’s no going back.

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Step 5 Remove as much extra fabric as possible. Once you finish trimming the excess fabric, you can use a brush to add a coat of Mod Podge. This helps minimize any fraying of the fabric. Step 6 Next you can add a hanger for your art—this can be ribbon, string, jute, etc.

Step 7 Now that you’ve completed the DIY, you can add some pizzazz. Or not. For two hoops, I left them as is. But on one, I used funky washi tape that worked well with the fabric. On the other hoops, I glued a heart to the top.

Other ideas for your DIY are to either paint or use a Sharpie to colour the hoop. Stitch on the fabric or use fabric glue to add either fabric or felt on top. Get out some second-hand jewelry or buttons for either the hoop or the fabric. The possibilities are endless!

(left) Denise Corcoran (aka Thrifty By Design) is an author, upcycler, community builder and workshop facilitator based in North Vancouver. She shares her enthusiasm for crafting and upcycling by facilitating “Crafternoons” throughout Vancouver. She is also a creative expert for The Salvation Army’s thrift stores. Find a thrift store near you at thriftstore.ca.

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