Applique Trivet (In-the-Hoop)

Bring cheery color and playful style into your kitchen with in-the-hoop trivets! These specialized embroidery design feature insulated fabric in the center, decorated with adorable applique details. Your choice of fabrics makes each trivet as unique as you. Follow along below to create your own!

When you download the in-the-hoop trivet design, you will find multiple files. One is an embroidery file, and the others are dieline files marked with the letters "DL".

Dielines are used to cut the fabric to the correct shape and size. Open each dieline file with embroidery software and print it. Learn more about working with dieline files by watching this video.

First, spray one side of a piece of Insul-bright with temporary adhesive. Smooth the Insul-bright onto the wrong side of the back piece fabric.

Then spray the back side of the printed back piece dieline with temporary adhesive, and smooth it onto the right side of the back fabric.

Cut the back dieline shape out of the adhered fabric and Insul-bright. Then remove the paper dieline.

Next spray the back of all of the remaining paper dielines with temporary adhesive. Then smooth them onto the right side of the appropriate fabrics.

Cut out all the remaining dieline pieces. These should only be fabric, and should not have Insul-bright on the back.

Once all the fabric pieces are cut to the correct shapes, it's time to embroider the design. Hoop a piece of tear-away stabilizer. Madeira E-Zee 1.5 oz or Floriani Tearaway Medium are good choices. Those brands are more fibrous, less like paper, and will tear more cleanly.

Attach the hoop onto the machine, and load the embroidery file (not the dieline files).

Use a 75/11 sharp sewing needle instead of an embroidery needle. The sharp sewing needle has a finer point, and it will make smaller perforations in the stabilizer.

Embroider the design. The first thing to embroider will be a dieline (or outline stitch). This marks the area on the stabilizer where the fabric piece will be placed.

After the dieline has sewn, remove the hoop from the machine, but do not unhoop the stabilizer. Spray the wrong side of the first fabric piece (here it is the body of the chicken) with temporary adhesive. Place the fabric on the stabilizer inside of the sewn dieline.

Then place the hoop back onto the machine, and embroider the tackdown for the previously placed fabric piece. A tackdown holds the fabric piece in place for the remainder of the design.

Then follow the color change sheet, and sew the next dieline step (here it is for the tail of the chicken).

Repeat to remove the hoop from the machine, spray the wrong side of the fabric piece, place it inside the sewn dieline, and embroider the tackdown step.

Then continue to follow the color change sheet, and sew the dieline for the next fabric piece (here it is the wattle of the chicken).

Repeat again to remove the hoop from the machine, spray the wrong side of the fabric piece, place it inside the sewn dieline, and embroider the tackdown step

Continue to follow the color change sheet, and place each fabric piece inside of its dieline before sewing its tackdown step.

Different trivets have different fabric pieces, so look at the color change sheet carefully.

Once all the front fabric pieces (not the back side with the Insul-bright) are tacked down into place, embroider all the inner details.

Make sure to stop before sewing the "back piece tackdown" step.

Some trivet designs, such as this Rustic Wood Slice Trivet (In-the-Hoop), do not have any decorative applique details. In this case, simply continue stitching after laying down the front fabric piece, to embroider all the inner details. Stop before sewing the "back piece tackdown" step.

Before sewing the "back piece tackdown" step, remove the hoop from the machine, and turn it over so the back side of the embroidery is facing up.

To add a hanger onto the trivet, cut a length of ribbon 7" long, and make it into a loop. Then tape the loop into place along the top center edge of the trivet.

Then spray the back side of the back fabric piece with temporary adhesive, and smooth it inside the shape on the back side of the embroidery.

As all the bobbin stitching from here on out will be seen from both sides, wind bobbins to match the remaining thread colors used into the design.

Place the bobbins into the machine so the bobbin always matches the top thread. Follow the color change sheet to embroider the rest of the color change steps.

Once the embroidery is finished, carefully tear the excess stabilizer away from the outside of the trivet.