Lased: Miniature Embroidery Hoops

I spent a decent portion of yesterday on the laser, prototyping a tiny embroidery hoop for (duh) tiny embroidery. I'm pretty happy with the results. So much in fact that I've decided to start offering tiny embroidery kits along side my tiny dinosaur kits.

The embroidery hoop is made from laser cut acrylic, and the rubber band provides tension to keep everything in place. The whole thing measures 1.5" across, a standard sewing machine bobbin is show for scale in the picture above. I actually neglected to save the cut file (oops) but it's pretty simple: two concentric rings (0.2" wide), with the outside diameter of the smaller ring being 0.05" smaller than the inside diameter of the larger ring. The large ring has a "nub" on the side for the rubber band, and is split down the middle on that side.

There's about a 1" diameter working area. I used 28 count aida fabric, which gave me approximately 28 "pixels" across to work with. Chris helped me design a cupcake chart for counted cross stitch. It uses 7 colors: white, red, light pink, dark pink, pink, grey, and light grey. It's a nice portable project because it fits in your pocket. I've listed a kit for sale on Etsy and may bring a few down to Spring BadaBing in Richmond, VA this weekend.

Here's the chart for your cross-stitch pleasure: