Materials for In-The-Hoop Earrings

Everyone wants a pair of in-the-hoop earrings from Applique & Embroidery Originals.  And why wouldn’t they?  They are inexpensive to make, stitch fast and easy, and just look how cute they are on!  These are amazing as a gift (don’t forget teachers), for yourself or to sell.

There were so many questions on the Facebook pages and Instagram about how to put the earrings together AFTER they were done sewing, that I thought I’d go through a quick resource gift.  A video should be coming in the next week how to actually stitch and put everything together!

Lets get started on what you need …

• faux leather or thick vinyl (like marine vinyl)
• earwire
• jump rings (depending on your your earwire)
• leather hole punch
• Needle Nose Pliers (2 pair if you are using jump rings)
• Embroidery machine
• thread
• water soluble stabilizer (I like badgemaster)

FAUX LEATHER & VINYL

The first thing that you need is some kind of faux leather or heavy vinyl material.  The options are endless!!

MICHAEL’S or JOANN’S (I’m sure you can buy these online as well)

I ran to Michael’s to see what they had and the only thing I could find were these Cricut Leather Sheets.  They sell them in the Cricut section.  They were a little pricey but I really do like them, especially in the layered earrings.  On a few on the more dense earring designs they didn’t lay flat when they were done because of the embroidery so I would probably save these for light embroidery or as the “back” of your project.

HOBBY LOBBY

Hobby Lobby is my store.  I love it.  Everything.  Oh my.  Sorry, moving on … Your first option at Hobby Lobby is in the ribbon section (who knew, right?).  Located on an end cap in the ribbon department (right in with the fabric) you’ll find these rolls of faux leather ribbon.  It is super thick and works so well!!  I’ve used it on some of the bigger embroidery designs and it stitches so well!!  Plus, every few weeks it is on sale so that is always a score!  They carry solids, glitter and patterns.  Two of my favorite patterns are the red/black buffalo and the black/white stripe.

Option number 2 is in with the big bolts of decorator fabric.  You can see here that they were on sale when I was there — 30% off.  I plan on buying about 1/8th of yard of this in a couple of neutral colors and using them for my earring backs in place of some of my more expensive faux leathers.

ETSY

Etsy is amazing.  I’m serious.  There are so many sellers selling amazing faux letter in so many different patters.  I’ve bought mini houndstooth, mini gingham, buffalo checks, Christmas lights, and even sewing machines!!  You have to search and look through peoples stores to fine what you want, but I promise you that it is out there!!

Here are a few of my favorite shops:

Glitter with Grace (click for link)

GlitterbySky (click for link)

EARWIRE

Kind of a strange word for it — yes?  Earwire is the “hook” that goes into your ear.  There are a couple of different kinds and each has their own unique traits.

All of these were purchased at Hobby Lobby and the week that I was there, they were 50% off which was a huge SCORE for me and my budget.  They have these in ALL JEWELRY sections of craft stores:  Michael’s, Joann’s, Hobby Lobby and even Walmart carries jewelry making supplies!!

1.  Ear Wire with Ball — they had these in gold, silver and maybe even a darker rust color.  The wonderful thing about these is that if you are doing an earring with a single layer, you just slip these on and you are DONE!!  You don’t need the jump rings or the pliers.  I really love these and my customers who I’ve sold some of the earring samples too like the dressier look of these earrings.
2. Kidney Earwire — When I first bought these I used them on the gingerbread man earrings and I put them on and posted a picture asking if every one liked them.  Not so much.  You all were real honest that you didn’t care for the kidney earwires and I too, felt like they were a little long (especially for my short neck).  So, I went back to the store and found these — they are much shorter/smaller and work really well.  Again, another super simple, no tools needed fix!
3. Fishhook Earwire — these are probably the most popular.  These are the hooks that you will also need jump rings and pliers with!

We are in the home stretch now, just a couple more things that you need.  Are you still with me?  Lastly, jump rings and a leather punch tool.

The jump rings can be found again at any craft store or even Walmart.  Jump rings are used with the Fishhook Earwire. In order to get the earring to hang in the correct direction you need 2 jump rings.  A smaller one (I personal use 4mm size) that attached to the earwire and then the larger one (I use the 6mm) that attached to the smaller one and through all of the layers, or layer of the earring.  You will need to open the jump rings with your pliers and close them as well.  I’ll go more into that “how to” with my next blog post.

I purchased my leather tool punch at Michael’s but you can buy them in a variety of different places.  There is a picture of mine above.  Make sure that whatever kind you use that it is small enough for earrings and not too big.  Recently I was looking for another source, and I found THIS PUNCH on Amazon and it is identical to mine for a fraction of the price!!

That is all you need and these supplies really go a long way!  You’ll be able to craft so many earrings with just these few supplies!