Embroidery Hoop Wall Art with Vintage Doilies

Being  a fan of vintage doilies means I am always looking for new ways to repurpose and display them. Wall decor is a great way to give them new life and falls right in line with the granny chic decor that is super popular right now. But instead of framing them in more traditional ways, this time I decided to upcycle some vintage doilies into embroidery hoop wall art.

Because, let’s face it: Old embroidery hoops are CONSTANTLY lurking on thrift store shelves.

And of course, I had plenty of vintage doilies, as well. Unlike my previous framed doily project, however, these were all thrifted and weren’t made by my grandmother.

That’s an important distinction to make here; I’ll show you why down in the tutorial.

Anyway, with vintage doilies and embroidery hoops in hand, I was ready to put them together as doily art for my walls!

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Embroidery Hoop Wall Art as Granny Chic Decor

First, I washed and ironed the vintage doilies as best I could. I chose doilies that were devoid of stains and tears, saving those damaged ones for other projects.

Then, I separated the embroidery hoops. I set aside the larger, outer ring (the one with the screw) and draped a doily over the inner ring, making sure that the best side was facing up.

It almost looks like doily pie crust, doesn’t it?

Then, I centered the doily as best I could and slide the outer ring over the inner ring.

Now, this is where it can get a little tedious or fussy. Well, maybe those are too strong of words.

But perfectionism can REALLY set in here. Once I tightened the screw a bit (not too tight, but the doily was snug), I tugged and pulled it so that it was smooth and taut across the embroidery hoop.

Smooth and taut and CENTERED. All that tugging for a perfect display can disrupt the even centeredness of your piece.

But when I was happy, I fully tightened the screw on the embroidery hoop. Even using pliers to really make sure it was secure.

Lastly, I turned over my embroidery hoop wall art to trim off the excess doily.

I know, I know- this is a very polarizing step. But I didn’t like the look of the doily’s edge outside of the hoop.

Remember how I said these were thrifted vintage doilies and not my grandmother’s? Hence why I could trim them with scissors.

So, I trimmed along the back of the embroidery hoop and used Fray-stop to keep the doily from fraying.

Embroidery Hoop Wall Art with Vintage Doilies

After the glue dried (overnight), the final product…well, products, were done. I made three more while you weren’t looking. And now I had an entire set of embroidery hoop wall art with vintage doilies!

My husband ended up liking these a lot more than he had anticipated, so instead of relegation to a corner in our bedroom, I hung them in the dining room for all to see.

Easy-peasy AND husband-approved…definitely a win-win.

I’m also thrilled to announce that my first book, “Crafting with Flannel”, is finally available! If you enjoy fabric crafts, both sewing and non-sewing, then you may really enjoy the flannel crafts included in my book.

And if you enjoyed this upcycling idea for embroidery hoop wall art, then you may also be interested in this doily table runner, as well!

Craft on!

S

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