Catalog

Hoop Sizes, Embroidery Areas, and Design Formats: A Comprehensive Guide to Machine Embroidery

Understanding Hoop Sizes and Embroidery Areas

Hoop sizes and embroidery areas play a crucial role in machine embroidery, as they determine the maximum dimensions of your designs and the available space for stitching. Here, we'll explore different hoop sizes and their corresponding embroidery areas:

1. Small Hoop (4" x 4"): This hoop size is ideal for small and intricate designs. It provides an embroidery area of approximately 3.9" x 3.9", offering enough space for monograms, small logos, or decorative accents.

2. Medium Hoop (5" x 7"): The medium hoop size expands the embroidery area to around 4.9" x 6.9". It allows for larger designs, such as motifs for garments, medium-sized logos, and decorative elements.

3. Large Hoop (8" x 12"): With an embroidery area of about 7.9" x 11.8", the large hoop size enables you to stitch more substantial designs, such as jacket backs, quilt blocks, and large-scale motifs.

4. Extra-Large Hoop (10" x 16"): The extra-large hoop offers an expansive embroidery area of approximately 9.8" x 15.7". It's suitable for oversized designs, such as table runners, large banners, and other projects requiring extensive stitching space.

Those embarking on a journey through the magical world of machine embroidery are often puzzled by the fact that they can’t fit a design in the hoop/frame of a corresponding size. If a design 4 inches wide does not fit into a 4 x 4’’ frame, whose fault is that: a digitizer’s or a manufacturer’s? Actually, neither.

So what exactly is hoop size and how is it measured?

The hoops/frames that come with the machine depend on the kind of embroidery equipment you own: its brand, type and, well, price. Simpler and cheaper models usually only have one hoop (a small one). You’ll be able to embroider a napkin in it, but not much else. Complex professional or semi-professional machines are necessarily equipped with a range hoops or frames (typically three). Their sizes vary from small to large, suitable for the intricate work on big items.

Embroidery machines always come with a manual that has all the technical specifications listed in it. (In case you’ve accidentally misplaced it, you can easily retrieve a copy from the manufacturer’s website.) Let’s say, your machine has 6 x 10 hoop installed in it. According to the industry standard, this hoop measures 160 x 260 mm. But if you decide to do calculations, you are in for a surprise: 160 x 260 mm equals 6.29 x 10.2 inches! Now, what does that mean?

This confusion is due to the different measurement systems. While in some countries, millimeters are used, others still prefer inches. A millimeter equals to 0.0393701 inches. You’re beginning to see the problem, right?

As if it wasn’t complicated as it is, there is yet another factor. The embroidery machine cannot stitch too close to the inner side of the hoop/frame, and so it is obligatory to leave some space around the design. You won’t be able to fit a 5 x 7’’ design into a 5 x 7 frame, because the actual embroidery area is always smaller than the hoop name suggests.

How does one find out the hoop’s embroidery area?

Embroidery hoops come in three most common sizes: 4 x 4, 5 x 7, and 6 x 10. Their corresponding measurements, according to the industry standards, are 100 x 100 mm, 130 x 180 mm, and 160 x 200 mm. But their actual embroidery areas are smaller still. The embroidery area (also called the stitch field) is often marked on the plastic template that comes with the hoop and helps you position the design. You can also find a chart on the Web. Below are the examples of the most common hoop sizes, their actual physical measurements, and corresponding stitch fields:

Choosing a right hoop size

The rule here is very simple: you can stitch a small design in a bigger hoop (though it might not be very convenient), but not vice versa. Let’s say, you want to stitch a bouquet of flowers, 4 inches in its highest point. The instructions say to use at least a 5 x 7 hoop for that, but if you don’t have it, you can stick to the larger one. The 4 x 4 hoop won’t do!

What is a Machine Embroidery Format?

Digitized machine embroidery designs come in various formats, which can be recognized by their file extensions. A file extension is two or three letters after the dot (.DST, .JEF, .PES, etc.). They can be stitch-based or shape-based. Some embroidery machines can work with several formats; others will only accept one. Below is a simple and incomplete table of several most popular extensions:

So how do you know which one to use when purchasing a design? As a rule, machine embroidery shops list the formats in which the particular design is available. All you need to do is to know the manufacturer of your equipment so that you can see which embroidery formats it handles. After that, download the design and load it into your machine! Done. Now you can stitch it out!

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