Spider Web Wreath on an Embroidery Hoop

A spider web wreath built on an embroidery hoop is one of the lightest door decorations you can make. There is no foam ring to cover and no metal frame to bend, only a wooden circle, a ball of twine and a weaving pattern you repeat until the web is full.

The finished piece looks delicate, but the method is forgiving. If a round of the spiral sits crooked, you slide it along the spoke with a fingertip and carry on.

What you need

• One wooden embroidery hoop, about 12 inches (30 cm) across. You only need the inner ring, the one without the metal screw.
• Black craft paint and a small brush, or black ribbon or yarn for wrapping.
• White or black cotton twine, roughly 8 to 10 yards (7 to 9 m).
• Scissors and a low-temp glue gun.
• A small lightweight spider: a craft-store plastic one, or a pom-pom with chenille stem legs.
• A side cluster: a few faux leaves, a short length of ribbon and one mini faux pumpkin.

White twine on a black hoop gives the strongest contrast. If you are new to wreath making in general, the guide to wreath bases, hangers and attachment methods covers the choices this project skips.

Prepare the hoop

Separate the two rings and put the outer one aside for another project. Brush a thin coat of black paint over the inner ring, including the inside edge, and let it dry fully before you handle it.

If you would rather not paint, wrap the ring instead. Glue the end of a ribbon or a strand of yarn to the wood, wind it around at a slight angle so each turn overlaps the last, and glue the tail down at the back.

String the spokes

The spokes are four long strands that cross at the center, which gives you eight arms to weave around.

1. Cut four pieces of twine, each about 20 inches (50 cm) long.
2. Tie the first piece to the top of the hoop with a double knot, pull it straight down across the middle and tie it at the bottom. Keep it snug but not so tight that the ring bends.
3. Tie the second piece from left to right, so the hoop is divided into quarters.
4. Add the last two pieces on the diagonals, splitting each quarter in half.
5. Where all four strands cross, wrap a short scrap of twine around the crossing point two or three times and knot it. This locks the center so the spokes cannot wander.
6. Trim the knot tails at the rim to about a quarter inch (6 mm) and touch each knot with a dot of glue.

If one gap is clearly wider than its neighbor, slide the knots along the rim now, before the spiral is in place.

Weave the spiral

Cut a working strand about 4 yards (3.5 m) long. A longer piece tangles.

1. Tie one end of the working strand to the center knot.
2. Move out about half an inch (1.2 cm) along the nearest spoke. Pass the twine over the spoke, around behind it and back over the front, making one full loop. Pull it gently until it holds.
3. Carry the twine to the next spoke and make the same loop at the same distance from the center.
4. Continue around all eight spokes. When you reach the starting spoke, step out a little farther and begin the next round.
5. Widen the gap slightly with each round. Tight rounds near the center and wider ones near the rim look more like a real web.
6. Stop about half an inch from the rim. Knot the strand to the last spoke, trim it, and seal the knot with glue.

Let the strand between spokes sag by a hair rather than pulling it ruler straight. If you run out of twine partway, knot the old end to a spoke, tie the new strand to the same spot and keep going.

The same over-and-around loop works at a much larger scale. For a web that fills a corner or a window, see the yarn spider web decoration.

Add the spider and the side cluster

Place the spider off center, about two thirds of the way out along one spoke. Fix it with a small dot of glue on the body, pressed onto a spoke rather than onto a single spiral strand, which is too thin to hold it.

Build the cluster on the lower left or lower right of the rim:

• Glue three to five faux leaves in a fan, stems pointing the same way along the curve.
• Add the mini pumpkin over the leaf stems to hide them.
• Tie a short ribbon bow, or simply two ribbon tails, behind the pumpkin.

Keep the cluster to roughly a quarter of the rim so the open web stays the feature. Glue guns are an adult job, and a loose spider or pumpkin is a small part, so keep the wreath out of reach of young children and pets.

Hanging and placement

Tie a loop of twine or ribbon at the top of the hoop, in line with the vertical spoke so the web hangs square. The wreath weighs very little, so a removable adhesive hook rated for light items is usually enough on a smooth door.

Outdoors, choose a sheltered door under a covered porch. Twine and painted wood do not like rain, and wind can swing a light hoop against the door, so bring it inside in rough weather.

Variations to try

• Partial web: string only five spokes from one point on the rim, so the web fans out from a corner.
• Glow accent: wind a short battery micro light string around the rim and tuck the battery pack behind the cluster.
• All black: black hoop, black twine and a single orange leaf for a quiet, graphic look.

If you like the dark palette but want a fuller, softer shape, the black ribbon Halloween wreath uses the same color scheme on a padded base.

Storing the wreath

Lay the hoop flat in a shallow box with a sheet of tissue paper over the web. How well it keeps from one season to the next varies with the twine and the storage spot, so check the knots and re-glue any that have loosened before you hang it again.