Framing Small Embroideries to Sew in a Hoop

I'm really enjoying sitting and stitching by hand at the moment.  I have a wonderful audiobook, Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by  Gail Honeyman, that I've been listening to on Audible and I can hardly bear for it to end. It's a debut novel and the best book I've 'read' in ages.  The narrators in audiobooks can make or break a good story and Catherine McCarron is outstanding, she slips into the various voices so easily.  I've wanted to concentrate on every word so embroidery has been the perfect past time.  The screen printed design is from my Jessie Chorley Friendship Quilt kit. There are six different designs each measuring around 4" square.  I find holding these without a hoop make my hands sore, so I created a temporary fabric frame so they will fit in a small hoop- this one is 6" diameter.

It's easy to do. I used scrap cotton fabric from a dress toile and cut it large enough to fit my hoop.  I then pinned the embroidery square into the centre and stitched it 1/8" from the square's edge.  I also zig-zagged all my embroidery square raw edges before sewing them on as they fray very easily.

Next, pull the back and front apart so there is a gap between the scrap fabric and the embroidery, pinch the centre of the back and flip over so the wrong side of the back is facing you.  Keeping the fabric lifted, make a small snip into the centre of the back, making sure you are only cutting through one layer.

Use the snip as an entry point for the scissors and carefully trim the backing fabric until it is around 1/4" from the stitching and you can see all the design peeping through.

The little embroidery square is ready for a hoop!

I've felt pretty flat since the start of the year, but today I felt a small shift, the days are a feeling a little longer, I saw a rush of orangey yellow crocuses popping up around two large trees and Lottie (our dog) has shown a little energy too. She's an older dog these days and loves to sleep, sleep and more sleep, but in the last couple of days, she's had a few moments of skittish giddiness when the sun has shone. Bring on Spring!