As a dabbler in embroidery, I was relatively quickly rebuked by my cloth and thread for attempting to do more complex patterns without an embroidery hoop. I had been doing the simplest of simple patterns before, so it sufficed to hold the cloth directly in my hand, as one would while stitching a hem. But now it was time to get myself an embroidery hoop.

Here I show how to make one from scrap plastic in under 5 minutes.

Step 1: What You Need

1) Plastic container with lid that shuts tightly. The lid ought to be the size and shape of the embroidery hoop you'd like to have.

2) Sharp utility knife

3) Scissors

4)Optional - duct tape

Step 2: Cut the Lid

Using the utility knife cut out the central part of the lid (where words and images may be displayed). Take care not to damage the groove in to which the container fits in when closing.

You should have a frame as shown in the pictures above.

Step 3: Cut the Container

Place your cloth on top of the container and fit the lid-frame from the last step securely on it, checking to make sure that the requires tension is present in the cloth.

Then, decide how thick you want your hoop to be. Mark the depth at which you want to remove excess plastic from the container.

Use the utility knife to make a cut at a spot where you have a good grip on the container. İ continued with a scissor after the initial cut, but you might prefer to cut all the way around with a utility knife :)

To lessen the risk of being scraped by the sharp edge left behind by cutting the container, you could tape the edge all the way around, as seen in the photos.