Hoop selection

Hoops are needed to hold the fabric tight while stitching on your machine. They are available in different sizes. An outline to represent the sewing field of the selected hoop is displayed in the design workspace. This provides a guideline for sizing and positioning designs. You can show or hide the hoop at any time.

Depending on the hoop type you select, the hoop boundary may be displayed as a thin red, blue, or dotted line. If any part of the design lies outside the stitching area, a warning appears when saving. This prevents you from accidentally stitching outside this area and damaging your machine by hitting the hoop with the needle.

If your embroidery is too large or contains a number of designs spaced around an article, you can split it into multiple hoopings. Each one contains an object or group of objects that can be stitched out in a single hooping. See also Multi-hooping.

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Hoops & templates

When it comes to stitching out, it is important to align the fabric squarely in the hoop, with even pressure on all sides, and fabric patterns and weaves running perpendicular to the hoop. Otherwise, fabric bias allows stretch. This can distort stitching and result in puckering. Each hoop contains vertical and horizontal centering marks on the frames. These help with aligning both the fabric and the design.

Many hoops also come with a clear plastic template overlay. These include alignment lines, with tiny holes which allow you to create positioning marks. Hoop template display can be toggled on or off independently of the hoop itself. Uses in the software...

• Templates include alignment and registration guide markings. These can help you align the design in the hoop.
• Templates can also be printed with alignment and registration markings. This allows you to cut out the printed design and align it in the hoop with the physical template.

Select and display hoops

• The Hoop List on the Context toolbar shows which hoop is currently active in the design workspace. The list is automatically filtered according to the selected machine type. Only those hoops supported by that machine or new hoops you have created are available. See also Machine selection.
  
• Alternatively, right-click the Show Hoop button and choose your machine from the droplist.
• The hoop list is filtered to display compatible hoops. Select a hoop from the droplist.
  
• Select the smallest hoop which fits the design.
• Activate the Show Hoop button on the View menu to display the current hoop.

• Optionally, turn on the hoop template display via the Show Hoop Template toggle. The template may be used to help position your design within the hoop.

  

  You can include the hoop template in the design worksheet, together with alignment and registration guide markings. This allows you to cut out the printed design and align it within the hoop. Use the template markings to align it to physical hoop template. See also Print multi-hooped designs.

• The selected hoop is saved with the design in native EMB file format. When the machine reads the stitch file, the stitching area is limited by the selected hoop type.

Center hoops

By default, the software ensures that your design is always centered in the hoop. However, you can use the manual option to lock the hoop position. This means it won’t automatically center while you are digitizing. If you are creating a single hooping, however, always turn on auto-centering to check that the design will fit within the selected hoop.

To set the hoop center, access the Machine & Hoop settings via Software Settings > Embroidery Settings or right-click the Show Hoop icon.

The Hoop Position panel gives you these options:

Background colors

Set the color inside the hoop to match the fabric you intend to stitch out on. You can also set a background color outside the hoop by way of contrast. See also Backgrounds.

• Select Customize Design > Background and Display Colors or right-click the design workspace and select from the popup menu.

• To select a color inside the hoop, choose the Solid Color option. This allows you to set separate colors inside and outside the hoop. Select a color from the palette or mix your own.

  

• Set the color inside the hoop to match the color of the fabric you intend to stitch out on.

Rotate hoops

The Rotate Hoop tool allows you to rotate the hoop for ease of digitizing. The attachment mechanism is indicated, both on screen and printed worksheets. You can thereby tell the orientation of the design with respect to the hoop and decide how to position it. Rotate the current hoop by means of the icon or popup menu.

Custom hoops

The software allows you to define your own hoops and save for later use or associate with a custom machine type. Custom hoops are needed because new hoops become available for sewing machines more frequently than the software is updated. Also some machines include hoop adapters for third-party hoops which need to be defined in the software.

• Right-click the Show Hoop icon to open the dialog.
  
• Click the 'Create' button in the 'Hoop' panel. Two main types of hoop can be defined or edited in the software – Rectangular and Oval.
  

The software records the embroidery area of custom hoops to machine file  which can then be read by multi-needle machines to determine the stitching area. On the other hand, the stitching area of single-needle machines is determined by the selected hoop type. If the file contains a ‘non-standard’ (custom) hoop code, the hoop size is automatically based on the design size which is used to limit the stitching area.