Embroidery Hoop Sizes: Chart and Free Hoop Size Checker

Embroidery hoop size chart

The sizes below are the embroidery field each hoop allows: the largest area the machine can stitch in that hoop. Brother and Baby Lock name their hoops in inches, but the field is set in millimeters, so a "4 × 4" hoop is 100 × 100 mm, or 3.9 in square.

Not every hoop fits every model, and some machines stitch a slightly smaller field in the same hoop. Your machine's manual lists the hoops it accepts. Sources: the Embird hoop list and Janome's own hoop pages, for example the RE36b hoop.

Round hoops on commercial machines

Multi-needle machines from Tajima, Ricoma, SWF, Happy, Barudan and Melco use tubular hoops that clip onto the machine arms. Round hoops are sold by inner diameter, commonly 12, 15, 18, 21, 24 and 30 cm, plus square and rectangular frames for jacket backs and cap frames for hats. In a round hoop the corners of the design are what run out of room, so the checker measures the design's diagonal against the diameter, minus your margin on each side.

How to use the hoop size checker

1. Enter the size. Type the width and height of the finished design in inches or millimeters. The checker keeps the size the same if you switch units.
2. Or load the file. Choose a DST, PES, EXP, JEF, VP3 or XXX file and the checker reads the true stitched size from it. The file stays on your computer.
3. Set a margin. The default of 5 mm on each side keeps the presser foot and the stitches clear of the hoop frame. Use a larger margin on thick items.
4. Allow rotation. With rotation on, a design that is wider than it is tall can sit sideways in a long hoop. Turn it off if the design has to stay upright on the item.
5. Read the result. Hoops that fit are marked Yes, and the smallest home hoop that fits is named at the top.

Choosing the right hoop

Use the smallest hoop that fits the design with a margin. A smaller hoop holds the fabric tighter, so it shifts and puckers less, and the design sews more accurately. A design in a hoop far bigger than it needs often shows gaps between fill and outline, because the fabric has room to move.

• Leave room around the design. Stitches too close to the frame can hit it, and the presser foot needs space to travel.
• Check the stitch file, not the artwork. The sewn size includes borders and underlay, and a stray stitch far from the design makes the file bigger than it looks. The DST viewer shows where every stitch lands.
• Do not shrink a design to fit a hoop. Scaling a stitch file down more than a little packs the stitches too tight. Ask for a file digitized at the smaller size instead.
• Split very large designs. A design bigger than your largest hoop needs a larger frame or splitting into sections that are hooped one after another.

Hoops for caps, bags and hard-to-hoop items

Some items do not fit a flat hoop at all. Commercial machines use a cap frame that holds a cap front on a curved driver, with a field of about 2.25 in tall on most structured caps. Bags, jacket backs with thick seams and items too small to hoop are often sewn on hooped backing instead: the backing is hooped alone, the item is stuck or basted on top, and the design is sewn through both.

Magnetic hoops are a popular option for thick or slippery items. They clamp the fabric between two magnetic frames instead of pressing it into a ring, so they leave fewer hoop marks on velvet, leather and heavy fleece. They come in sizes that match most standard hoops, so the size rules on this page still apply.

Hoop size and placement

The hoop sets the largest design you can sew, but the item sets the size that looks right. A left chest logo is usually 3 to 4 in wide and fits a 4 × 4 in hoop, while a full back design may need an 8 × 12 in hoop or a large commercial frame. The embroidery placement guide gives the usual size and position for each spot on a garment, and our left chest logo size and hat logo size guides go into those two in detail.