How Did She Do That? : Making Hoop Art

Have you ever come across a piece of art or hand-crafted item and wondered to yourself: How did she do that?

Wouldn’t you like to catch a glimpse of the steps behind the finished product? Take a peek at how she transformed raw materials like paint or wood or fabric into the fully realized object you see before you?

A few months ago, I decided to document my process of creating a set of custom hoop art for a special customer.

My customer contacted me several months before Mother’s Day to talk about making a very special gift for her sweet mom.

She wanted me to embroider a very special song lyric onto a hoop. Her only requirement was to incorporate “pastel colors with an emphasis on blues and purples”. The design would be left to my creative imagination. I love when a customer gives me free reign on designing a custom piece. It’s a sign that they trust me to create something they will love.

With this very special assignment in hand, I snapped photos along the way.

I created my own hashtag on Instagram: #makinghoopart. If you do a search on Instagram for this hashtag, my photos will pop up. How cool is that?

Not only does this answer the question of: how did she do that? But, it helped me to find beauty during the process. To enjoy the process of creating. With each photo I tried to show the raw materials, the steps of #makinghoop art, and to make it pretty!

In case you missed my Instagram series: #makinghoopart, I’d love to share it with you here on the blog, along with extra details I didn’t share on my IG feed.

Step 1: Sand hoops until smooth. Beware of splinters.

Step 2: Select colors for custom hoop art from my felt stash. Play with different color combinations until I find one that will inspire me as well as please my customer!

One of my favorite parts of the entire process – choosing colors!

Step 3: Free-hand cut floral shapes and leaves as well as dimensional flowers.

This is probably my favorite part — making flowers.

Step 4: Stretch background into embroidery hoop and begin to arrange and rearrange felt flowers. Repeat as needed.

Even though, it often takes me several arrangements to find the right one, I love the process. It’s my playtime!

Step 5: Hand-stitch custom message on white felt with a sharp embroidery needle and chocolate brown cotton floss. Vintage thimble optional.

I love writing on felt with hand stitches.

Step 6 – 7: Repeat step 5 until you spell out the cutest message ever!

View original instagram or visit INK361

For these hoops, I used a mix of print and cursive, making the hoops even more whimsical.

Step 8: Now to finish off the hoop art! Neatly trim excess felt around the hoop. This will make the felt less bulky and easier to wrap around the hoop.

Step 9: Wrap felt around hoop and secure with glue.

I use hot glue for this step. Minor burns on fingers is my occupational hazard.

Step 10: Cut out a circle of felt to neatly finish the back of the hoop art and add a Catshy Crafts kraft tag.

All my tags are made by me – I have a passion for Photoshop and kraft paper.

Step 11: Add a hang tag on a ball chain to the metal clasp. Now it’s ready to wrap and ship!

I love the ball chain! It adds a unique + vintage touch.

And there you have it! Hope you liked the behind-the-scenes look at #makinghoopart.