Embroidery Hoop Size Finder
Which hoop does your design need? Enter the design's width and height, pick your machine family and a clearance margin, and the finder lists the smallest hoops that fit, the room left around the design, whether turning it 90 degrees fits a smaller hoop, and what to do when it is bigger than every hoop. Hoop sizes come from Brother, Janome, BERNINA and Tajima documents, and you can add your own.
| Hoop | Embroidery area | As entered | Turned 90Β° |
|---|
Need the design resized or split?
A design that is shrunk or enlarged to fit a hoop should be rebuilt at its new size, and a design split across hoopings needs clean overlaps and alignment marks. Hand digitized, checked by a second digitizer, flat price per design.
Check the file first Β· Cap digitizing Β· See the price list
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What size hoop do I need?
You need the smallest hoop whose embroidery area is bigger than your design in both directions, with a little room to spare. The embroidery area (Brother and BERNINA call it that; Janome lists a maximum embroidery size) is the space the needle can reach inside the frame, and it is smaller than the frame itself. A smaller hoop holds the fabric tighter around the design, so pick the smallest one that fits rather than the biggest one you own.
The finder checks each hoop in three ways:
- As entered. The design fits when width + 2 Γ clearance β€ hoop width and height + 2 Γ clearance β€ hoop height.
- Turned 90 degrees. The same test with width and height swapped. When a maker states which side is the width (Brother lists height and width, Tajima lists depth and width), the tool knows whether turning helps. Janome and BERNINA list sizes without saying which way round, so for those hoops the tool accepts either orientation.
- Round hoops. A rectangle fits in a circle when its diagonal (β(widthΒ² + heightΒ²)) plus clearance on both ends is no more than the diameter, whichever way it is turned.
Hoops are ranked by area, smallest first. If nothing fits, the tool takes the largest rectangular hoop in the list and counts how many hoopings a split design needs across and down, before any overlap for alignment.
Worked example (tool output with its default settings): a 120 Γ 170 mm design, 3 mm clearance, Brother PR 10-needle standard frames. As entered, the smallest hoop that fits is the PRPQF200 quilt frame (200 Γ 200 mm). Turned 90 degrees, the design is 170 wide by 120 tall and fits the PRH180 standard frame (or PRVMFL magnetic) (180 Γ 130 mm), which leaves 5 mm to the edge of the area on each side, 2 mm more than the clearance you asked for. Turning the design lets it sew in a hoop about 42% smaller.
How to use the hoop finder (step by step)
- Enter the design size. Type the finished width and height in millimeters or inches, or drop in a DST file to read its size.
- Pick your machine. Choose a machine family preset, or "My hoops only" if you want to check your own list.
- Set the clearance. Set how much room to keep between the design and the edge of the embroidery area (default 3 mm per side, our assumption).
- Add your own hoops. Optional: add the hoops you own with their embroidery area. They are saved in the page link.
- Find the hoop. See the smallest hoops that fit, the room left on each side, and whether turning the design 90 degrees fits a smaller hoop.
- Share or split. Copy the link to share the result. If nothing fits, see how many hoopings a split design needs.
Hoop sizes the finder uses
Only sizes we could read in a maker's own document are included. Sizes are width Γ height in millimeters as published; round hoops show the diameter.
| Machine family | Hoops and embroidery areas |
|---|---|
| Brother PR 10-needle (PR1055X, PR1050X) | PRH60 standard frame: 60 Γ 40; PRH100 standard frame (or PRVMFM magnetic): 100 Γ 100; PRPRF100 round frame: Γ100; PRPRF130 round frame: Γ130; PRPRF160 round frame: Γ160; PRH180 standard frame (or PRVMFL magnetic): 180 Γ 130; PRPQF200 quilt frame: 200 Γ 200; PRH300 / PRF300 frame: 300 Γ 200; PRCLH1 cylinder frame: 90 Γ 80; VRSF44 compact frame: 44 Γ 38; VRSF50 compact frame: 50 Γ 50; VRSF70 compact frame: 70 Γ 41; VRSFV compact vertical frame: 75 Γ 33; PRPBF1 border frame: 300 Γ 100; PRPH360 extra large frame (or PRMS360 magnetic sash): 360 Γ 200; PRPJF360 jumbo frame: 360 Γ 360 |
| Brother PR 6-needle (PR680W, PR670E) | PRH60 standard frame: 60 Γ 40; PRH100 standard frame (or PRVMFM magnetic): 100 Γ 100; PRPRF100 round frame: Γ100; PRPRF130 round frame: Γ130; PRPRF160 round frame: Γ160; PRH180 standard frame (or PRVMFL magnetic): 180 Γ 130; PRPQF200 quilt frame: 200 Γ 200; PRH300 / PRF300 frame: 300 Γ 200; PRCLH1 cylinder frame: 90 Γ 80; VRSF44 compact frame: 44 Γ 38; VRSF50 compact frame: 50 Γ 50; VRSF70 compact frame: 70 Γ 41; VRSFV compact vertical frame: 75 Γ 33; PRPBF1 border frame: 300 Γ 100 |
| Brother PR cap frames | PRCFH2 advanced cap frame: 130 Γ 50; PRCFH3 cap frame / PRCFH5 flat brim cap frame: 130 Γ 60; PRPCFH4 wide cap frame (10-needle PR only): 360 Γ 60 |
| Janome MB-7 | M3 hoop: 50 Γ 50; M2 hoop: 126 Γ 110; M1 hoop (238 x 200 mm maximum embroidery size): 238 Γ 200; T1 Tajima round hoop: Γ34; T2 Tajima round hoop: Γ54; T3 Tajima round hoop: Γ84; T4 Tajima round hoop: Γ112; T5 Tajima round hoop: Γ142; T6 Tajima hoop: 78 Γ 168; S1 socks hoop: 37 Γ 59; S2 socks hoop: 28 Γ 50; H1 flat hat hoop: 100 Γ 90; J7 No. 1 monogram hoop: 110 Γ 95; J8 No. 7 monogram hoop: 120 Γ 121 |
| BERNINA hoops (check your model) | Large Freearm hoop: 145 Γ 255; Midi hoop: 265 Γ 165; Maxi hoop: 400 Γ 210; Jumbo hoop: 400 Γ 260 |
| Tajima tubular (TMEZ-KC area per head, round hoops) | T3 Tajima round hoop (84 mm): Γ84; T4 Tajima round hoop (112 mm): Γ112; T5 Tajima round hoop (142 mm): Γ142; TMEZ-KC maximum tubular area, 360 mm head interval: 279 Γ 439; TMEZ-KC maximum tubular area, 500 mm head interval: 419 Γ 439; T1 Tajima round hoop (34 mm): Γ34; T2 Tajima round hoop (54 mm): Γ54; T6 Tajima hoop (78 x 168 mm): 78 Γ 168 |
| Tajima cap frames (TMEZ-KC) | Cap frame: 180 Γ 83; Wide cap frame: 360 Γ 75 |
Brother's 6-needle PR list leaves out the 360 Γ 200 mm extra large frame, the 360 Γ 360 mm jumbo frame and the wide cap frame, which Brother's frame guide lists for the 10-needle models only. Brother's magnetic sash frame sews 360 Γ 200 mm on the 10-needle machines and 300 Γ 200 mm on the 6-needle ones. The Tajima round hoop sizes are listed with Tajima part numbers in the Janome MB-7 manual, which accepts Tajima hoops.
Limits and caveats
- Published area, not a guarantee. Tajima notes that the actual embroidery area can vary with the item, the machine model and the conditions. Always trace the design outline on the machine before you sew.
- Clearance is your choice. The makers publish the embroidery area, not an extra safety margin, so the 3 mm default is an assumption. Raise it for thick items, clamp frames or fabric that shifts.
- Hoop compatibility varies by model. Brother and BERNINA both say frames depend on the machine and its connector. Check your own manual before you buy a hoop.
- Caps are different. Tajima says its cap frame reaches up to 360 mm in length, up to 270 degrees around the cap, but the usable front panel is much smaller and curved. Design for the cap, not just the frame; see cap digitizing.
- Do not shrink to fit. Scaling a stitch file by more than a little changes how it sews. See why a resized design sews differently.
Hoop size FAQ
Sources
- Brother Support (US): embroidery frames for the PR1055X, embroidery area of each frame
- Brother Sewing and Craft Europe: PR and VR frame guide (which frames fit which PR model)
- Janome: MB-7 product page (maximum embroidery size 238 x 200 mm)
- Janome: MB-7 instruction book (hoop types M1 to M3, Tajima, sock, hat and monogram hoops)
- BERNINA: Jumbo, Maxi and Midi embroidery hoop manual
- BERNINA: Large Freearm Embroidery Hoop manual (max. embroidery area 145 x 255 mm)
- Tajima: TMEZ-KC specifications (embroidery area per head for tubular, cap and wide cap frames)
- Tajima: embroidery frames (cap frame up to 360 mm long, 270 degrees around the cap)
Checked 19 September 2026. The clearance default (3 mm per side) is an assumption, not a published figure.
Related free tools
PlixaLabs is a trading name of Zorixo Ventures, LLC (USA) and Zorixo Ventures Ltd (England & Wales, Co. No. 15975548).
The right size file for the right hoop.
Hand-digitized by the PlixaLabs digitizing team, digitizing since 2015, never auto-converted. Flat price per design, set by complexity: see the price list. Standard turnaround 4β8 hours, 24/7.