It’s hoopapalooza month at Designs in Machine Embroidery. It’s all about hooping. I am up for that, I thought. So I went hoop shopping. Oh, so much fun!! If only I had a ton of money, I would have ALL of the magnetic hoops for both of my machines. Well, I guess I had better get saving.

I decided to get the hoop that I use most often, the 8×8 quilt hoop. I do a lot of quilt squares and mug rugs, and other designs of course, and that seems to be my go to hoop, so it made sense to get that one in a magnetic hoop and make everything easier.

YEP. It sure does make everything easier. I do have different magnetic hoops for my 10 needle Brother PR1000E embroidery machine, and while they are easy to use my only issue with them is that the machine doesn’t recognize them and they are often a different size and shape from the standard hoops. Not really a big deal, but usually I am rushing around to get a video going on, and I just seem to opt for the hassle free “never hit the hoop and break your machine” option of the standard hoops.

That has all changed now that I have my hands on this Snap Hoop Monster. Aside from it being magnetic, there is another really really awesome thing with these hoops for the single needle: THE BROTHER DREAM MACHINE 2 RECOGNIZES THE HOOP! It is the exact same size sewing field as the original hoop from Brother. Yeah, I am sooooo happy about that. It means that you can use the snap hoop monster the same way as you would use a regular hoop – the machine will know what hoop you have on, and it will let you know when your design will not fit. I think this is the best part.

With a snap hoop monster you can easily unhoop by lifting the top magnet hoop up, reposition your fabric, and then place the top hoop back on, and voila! you are ready to get stitching again!! This hoop will be amazing for endless hooping, all over hooping and border hooping.

It should be noted that you CAN purchase a bulky border hoop for both the PR1000e and the Dream Machine 2, but they are really pricey and difficult to use. We paid $400 for the larger border frame hoop for the 10 needle brother….and I don’t like it very much. I am not happy with it’s space limitations and how you have to load and move the fabric. Had I known this, I would have purchased a snap hoop monster instead – I could use it for border designs AND anything else I needed. It would have been a great purchase. Honestly I would have done the same with my Dream Machine 2 – I must have all the hoop sizes on a machine (meh, it’s so expensive) so we ordered as many different hoops that we could for my single needle embroidery machine. Yes, they are expensive…I would love to return them all and get the same sizes in snap hoop monster hoops! I wish I had known how awesome the snap hoops are two years ago!!! I would have been much happier with the magnetic hoops.

Check out my video as I unbox the 8×8 Snap hoop monster for McDreamy. Yep. I am happy and I love the hoop.