Embroidery hoop size checker

Check which hoops fit

Design width

Left to right, as shown on screen.

Design height

Top to bottom.

UnitsMillimetersInches

Margin on each side (mm)

Extra clearance inside the sewing field. 3 to 5 mm is a sensible default.

Check hoops

Typical sewing fields used by the checker

The checker compares your design with the sewing fields below. These are the typical stitchable areas behind the familiar hoop names; the outer frame is always larger. Exact fields vary between brands and models, and some manufacturers make hoops in sizes not listed here, so always confirm the sewing field for your machine and hoop in the manual or on the machine's hoop selection screen.

Hoops are listed width first, as the field usually sits on the machine (for a 5x7, 130 mm side to side and 180 mm front to back). If your machine's screen describes a hoop the other way round, the rotation column of the result covers it.

How the checker decides what fits

For each field, the checker adds your margin to both sides of the design and compares:

Fits as is when design width + 2 x margin is no more than field width, and design height + 2 x margin is no more than field height.
Fits rotated when the same is true with width and height swapped, which you can do with the rotate function on most machines and in all embroidery software.

Fields are sorted by area, so the first one that fits is the smallest hoop you can use. Smaller is better when you have the choice: the fabric is held over a shorter span, so it flexes less as the hoop moves and the needle punches it, which helps registration and reduces puckering.

Worked example

A design of 120 x 150 mm with a 5 mm margin needs 130 x 160 mm. The 4x4 field (100 x 100) is too small either way. The 5x7 field (130 x 180) fits exactly in the normal orientation with 10 mm to spare at top and bottom, so 5x7 is the answer. If the design were 150 x 120 mm instead, it would need 160 x 130 mm: too wide for 5x7 as is, but it fits once rotated 90 degrees. Without rotation, the next fit would be an 8x8 or 6x10, a far bigger hoop for no reason.

In inches, a 4.5 x 6.5 in design is 114.3 x 165.1 mm. With 5 mm margins it needs 124.3 x 175.1 mm, which fits a 5x7 field with a few millimeters left.

Things the checker cannot see

• Your machine's real field. Two hoops sold as the same nominal size can have slightly different fields between brands, and older machines sometimes use a smaller field for the same name. The machine will refuse a design that is too large, usually with a hoop or size message; our page on hoop and design errors explains what those mean.
• The design's true extents. A listing may round the size, and stray stitches, jumps or a basting box can make the stitched area larger than the artwork. Read the size from the machine or software.
• Round and specialty hoops. Round tubular hoops on multi-needle machines and cap frames have curved or limited fields. For a round hoop, the design's diagonal (the result shows it) plus margins has to fit inside the usable inner diameter, which is smaller than the hoop's nominal size. Check the manufacturer's stated field.
• Placement on the garment. A design can fit the field and still not fit the item, for example a large design on a small child's shirt or near a seam or placket. See how to hoop for placement.

If nothing fits, you can split the design into sections in software and rehoop, or resize it. Resizing a stitch file more than about 10 to 20 percent without recalculating stitches can leave satins too sparse or too dense; our guide to resizing designs explains how to do it safely. For a full rundown of hoop types and when to choose each size, see hoop sizes.