What thread to buy?

[MichelleMermaid]

Hi all,

I'm beginning to work on my stash of embroidery threads and wondered if any of you experts...or not so experts :) ...could reccommend some must-haves for me?

I've been working with dmc cotton floss forever and only recently learned about all the silk threads available. I'm waiting on an order of threads that include some ribbon tape, silk ribbon and silk thread...like buttonhole twist, I think. It's not a large order, only a few colors each. I recently purchased some more silk ribbon, too, so I feel like I have a fairly decent supply of that.

I've seen some stitching with jeans stitch thread and thought that looked great. But I kind of get lost in all the different varieties and am not always sure what I am looking for exactly.

If you could give me an idea of a basic "kit" I would appreciate it. I like to work in purples and am getting more interested in improving my embroidery skills and expression through this art. Of course, that's been easy with so much inspiration on this site!

Thanks!

Dakotah

[Kerri L Murphy]

I really like the Presencia pearl cotton threads. A lot of quilt shops are carrying them now. They have a very large selection of colors and sizes. Much better than DMC. I find DMC pearl cotton is very drab, color wise and very limited. The prices of the Prescia is pretty good too. I like using mostly cotton thread as silk snags so easy for me. I love varigated thread but not the Prescia though. The varigations are too long. The color doesn't change fast enough. I really love Artfabrik varigated hand-dyed thread. It is an investment though. Laura Wasilawski dyes fabric and threads and is an art quilter. I think a lot of folks use her pearl cotton for machine work, but it works great for hand work too. She also has hand-dyed embroidery floss. Her colors are bright. Here is a link if you are interested. http://artfabrik.com/links.html. The link for Prensencia is http://www.presenciausa.com/. Anyway, these are my favorites.

Kerri

[Janice Lee]

Kerri,

I've been mail-ordering Presencia's pearl cotton because I didn't think I could find it anywhere in the Kansas City area. Not at the one needlework shop in town that I frequent, anyway. Where are you finding it locally? At the quilt shop in Liberty?

[Vicky Davis]

Dakotah I use the DMC and Presencia pearl cotton threads too, and have to agree that the Presencia's are a little nicer. I do hand quilting with them and pulling them thru 3 layers that include a batt, really tests them! I haven't tried their stranded cotton [6-ply] yet.

As far as quilting goes, I won't get Valdani again. They didn't stand up to the 3-layer test.

[Kath (Kathleen)]

To add yet another question on threads - I went to the web site for Eterna (silk) Threads and became confused as they list overdyed, minitwist, twist 8, twist 12 and stranded. Can anyone give me information on what the differences are between these threads? I couldn't find anything on their website to give me that information. I'm new to embroiderying and would like to use silk thread but I'm not sure where to go or what to try and use. Thanks

[Vicky Davis]

They-below- have a very nice description of their threads, how they look, etc.
http://www.caron-net.com/threads.html

This site has a vast list of conversions for different threads...http://www.needlepointers.com/ShowArticles.aspx?NavID=1558

And this one has a list of things to learn about silk [and other] threads

http://www.kreinik.com/articles/index.php

Hope this helps...*smile*

[MichelleMermaid]

Hi everyone,

I found this feedback on Kathy's blog: http://kathyscrazymoments.blogspot.com/

Several of the regulars here have added some comments about the threads they use and where to buy them. It's a few blogs down from the top.

I have a couple orders in for different threads but they still haven't arrived. One large lot of silk thread I ordered on ebay did not come in at all, even after waiting 6 weeks for it! And two other orders have been stalled due to a flood problem at the company. Urgh...it's really hard to be patient when I'm so anxious to try some new stitches and threads!

I'm thinking about ordering some Jeans Stitch from YLI...I liked the way this looked on some of Marie Alton's portholes. YLI seems to have some basic varieties to choose from. Does anyone else have experience with this company's thread?

For now, I guess I'll finish up my most recent project(s) with the variety of cottons I already own. I can tell my work is going to change now, just because of all I have learned here already. I'm already dreaming up my next project.

Thanks everyone for their suggestions! BTW, I realized a better question for this thread would be "What kind of thread do YOU use?" Everyone speaks best from their own experience, no?

Dakotah

[Elmsley Rose]

I bought a heap of YLI silk (about $US1 each) and found it no different than embroidering with DMC once it was down on the ground. So don't recommend the silk.

[Myfanwy]

Sassa Lynne threads! Lots of recommendations on the web.

[MichelleMermaid]

I found some more info on threads...thought I would share.

http://www.needlenthread.com/2007/06/needlework-stash-some-new-embr...

[Micki]

I use Madeira embroidery thread for my projects and Madeira Stabilizers...never have a problem. I have the Janome 350E and I use Embird software.

Micki
In Ireland

[Rosemary]

I quite like the Madeira threads too, the packaging is great (so long as you don't pull it out too far or have little fingers do it for you!) - the thread is in a sleeve until you need it and stays protected. The stranded cotton and silk threads are smooth to work with.

Rosemary

[Sandra Fox]

Dear Dakota, I use a lot of Rayon threads including Edmar and I always buy Japanese Silk not Indian as the quality is much better. One big thing which people don't realize is that thread will not last forever. It loses its sheen very quickly so I buy the thread as I need it especially the silks. The pearl threads are also sold in balls for crotchering. It is the same stuff just in a cheaper way of buying. I try not to keep threads more than 1 to 2 years and always look to see if it is dull or "fluffy". This shows that it is old or has sat on the docks in the salt air for a long time waiting to be sent out. Hope this helps. Sandra