Embroidery Hoop Sizes, Drawn to Scale

A hoop is named by what it can stitch

Makers name hoops by their embroidery area, not by the outside of the frame. Brother’s PE800 manual calls its standard hoop the “Large frame”, with an “embroidering area 18 cm × 13 cm”.¹ bernette describes its large hoop as having a “maximum embroidery surface of 16.0 × 26.0 cm”.³ The frame itself is bigger; none of the makers we read publishes its outside size.

The usable area can also be smaller than the name suggests. HoopMaster gives an example for its 5.5 in Mighty Hoop: 135 mm inside, but an “Actual sewing area” of 110 to 122 mm depending on the machine brand.¹¹

The common sizes, drawn to scale

Every size below comes from a maker’s manual or product page. Each square in the drawing is 1 inch; the Units button at the top of the page switches every figure between inches and millimetres.

Drawn to scale. Each square is 1 inch (25.4 mm).

2-1/2 × 1 in60 × 20 mmSmall (Brother)

4 × 4 in100 × 100 mmMedium (Brother)

5 × 7 in130 × 180 mmLarge (Brother)

6.3 × 10.2 in160 × 260 mmHoop L (bernette 79)

Drawn to scale. Each square is 1 inch (25.4 mm).

7.9 × 11 in200 × 280 mmRE28b (Janome Memory Craft 500E)

11 × 18.1 in280 × 460 mmRE46d (Janome Continental M17)

Hoop sizes as makers publish them

Hoop	Embroidery area	Example machines	Source
Brother small	2 × 6 cm (1 × 2-1/2 in)	SE700, PE900, SE2000 (sold separately)	Brother manuals2,6,7
Brother medium	10 × 10 cm (4 × 4 in)	Included with the SE700 and PE535	Brother accessory sheets5,12
Brother large	18 × 13 cm (7 × 5 in)	Included with the PE800, PE900 and SE2000	Brother manual and accessory sheets1,13,14
Brother multi-position (extra large)	30 × 13 cm in 3 positions; 18 × 13 cm per stitch-out	PE800 and SE2000 (sold separately with some models)	Brother manuals1,6
Brother magnetic (SAMF180N)	18 × 10 cm	PE900, SE2000 (sold separately)	Brother manuals6,7,15
bernette S / M / L	5.0 × 7.0, 12.0 × 18.0, 16.0 × 26.0 cm	bernette 79 (all three included)	bernette3
Janome RE28b	280 × 200 mm	Memory Craft 500E	Janome Australia16
Janome RE46d	280 × 460 mm	Continental M17	Janome Australia4

A bigger hoop does not make a bigger field

Multi-position hoops cover a longer area by moving the frame between stitch-outs. Brother’s PE800 manual: patterns up to 13 × 30 cm “can be embroidered if divided into sections”, with each section at most 18 × 13 cm, because the “Machine’s embroidery field is 18 cm × 13 cm”.¹ The SE600 and PE535 manuals say the same of their 17 × 10 cm frame: “The embroidery area is 10 cm × 10 cm”.^8,17 Baby Lock’s Bloom works the same way: a 5 × 7 in field with a 5 × 12 in multi-position hoop.¹⁸

So the useful question is not “how big is the hoop” but “how big is my field”. A design larger than the field can’t be stitched in one go: on the PE545, patterns that don’t fit the selected frame appear shaded on the screen.¹⁹

Magnetic frames can be smaller

A magnetic frame is not always the same size as the standard hoop of the same machine. Brother’s SAMF180N magnetic frame stitches 18 × 10 cm, on machines whose large frame is 18 × 13 cm, such as the PE900 and SE2000.^6,7,15 Its manual also notes that “The embroidering area is slightly off the center of the frame.”¹⁵ Before you buy one, check its area against the designs you stitch most. For magnetic hoops by machine, see our magnetic embroidery hoop guide.

Inches or millimetres?

Use millimetres to compare. Inch names are rounded: the PE900 and SE2000 manuals list the large frame as “7 inches × 5 inches” and give the maximum pattern size as 180 × 130 mm, which is 7-3/32 × 5-1/8 in.^6,7 The order also varies: Brother writes height first (18 cm (H) × 13 cm (W)), while bernette writes its own large size as 260 × 160 mm for the field and 16.0 × 26.0 cm for the hoop.^1,3