Hooping is one of the most important parts of a great embroidery project. I cannot stress this enough!

I personally hate to hoop my embroidery projects and only use sticky back stabilizer

Different fabrics have "stretch or give" in the fabric.

If you hoop too loose or to tight the fabric will bubble or pucker (example below) or move causing the outline and other parts of the embroidery to not line up.

You want the project to be smooth, but not stretched. Also tightening the hoop to tight can strip the hoop screw.

I personally think among the worst is Denim and Cotton (such as T Shirts and onesies). Sometimes I use several layers of stabilizer under my sticky back to get the best stitch quality. Basting is good to (as below) but is not the only way to keep the project from moving.

I can clearly see this item was not hooped properly making the design stitch very bad.

The comment from this embroiderer said the design was terrible and "I'm not sure I'll feel confident to purchase again. .".

Of course the design stitches beautifully as I explained to her. (see stitch out below)

It is common to blame the design but remeber all of the Band To Bow designs have been test stitched and should stitch beautifully if hooped correctly.