I had started winding my floss onto these new-fangled bobbins, thinking storage would be neater. I stopped as it was way too much work and my floss appeared “kinked” to me. Your methods of keeping the skeins tidy by just using their original labels in various ways makes a lot of sense to me. Thank you for this video.
Bless you! You've answered so many of my questions in one video. You make learning to embroider so much easier than struggling to figure it out on my own.
You have shown me how to separate strands without tangling them so thank you, thank you, thank you. This is going to make embroidery much less tedious going forward. Also, the tip about where to put your excess threads - back on the skein - was so insightful. I discovered your channel recently and it is a goldmine of information.
I loved the video but confess to being on team bobbin. I find my two filled bobbin boxes in numerical order somehow so satisfying. When I start a new project, I pull all the bobbins that I need and thread them on a loose leaf type ring so that I do not have to dig around for the next color.
I ordered some inexpensive threads from Temu. I forgot to look for fiber content when ordering and when I received it I found out it was polyester. I went back and looked and found many were polyester but I also found a lot of cotton too. So it pays to look but if it doesn't say on the label then it's either acrylic or polyester i would say. My order on the way is all cotton. 100 wonderful skeins of cotton. Yay
I am not sure if this applies only to cross stitch but if you are working with two threads of the same color, I discovered the loop starting method and it was a lifesaver! Eliminates the knotting on the back of the piece and is such an easy way to start.
After watching the Tuesday Tip (threading a needle), it has been on my mind how many strands to use. This video has so much information and you answered all my questions. Anyone who does any kind of stitching needs to watch this one. A big Thanks.
I like to keep my skeins intact too, rather than wind them on bobbins. Those skein management tips at the end were genius! Folding the smaller label was such a simple idea, but so useful for when the skeins get skinny.
This is one of the most in depth and informative videos on stranded cotton that I’ve seen. I just recently discovered your channel and I’m really enjoying your videos.
Thanks, Sarah! I am just getting into needlework (well, counted cross stitch, I have done needlepoint before) but your videos really inspire me to try something freehand ~ I am working on only my third cross stitch, but I'm trying the technique of gridding the (Aida) fabric with a water-soluble pen and so far this is makin cross stitch a whole lot easier for me! I am going through your whole library of videos and enjoying them all...this one on how to save thread (etc.) is very useful, thanks again!
Hello from New Zealand. I thank you for these lessons. I am trying to improve my craft and these have been amazing for me. Being le;lf taught I am still learning
Thanks for the info about thread nap. There are people out there who swear by this. In my specific experience it's with some EGA teachers who've commented that my strands are running in the wrong direction. I have great difficulty in determining if a strand is smoother or rougher this way or that when I run it through my fingers.
Wow this is invaluable, wish I’d seen when I first started, I wouldn’t have a tub of messy threads now 🙄. Thanks so much for all your info I love your channel have learnt so much. Here’s to using threads correctly 🙏
I’ve already written it on the first video I found of you but I have to say this again: you are a delight to listen to and watch ☺️ thank you for making these videos, I learn something on each video (even when I see a title and think “ha, I already know how to… oh, no. No I did not🤷♀️” 😄)
This is a wonderful tutorial for beginners worried about strands & needles!!! I keep this one in my library and refer back to it frequently! Thank you❤
Thank you Sarah !!! So much great information.... not only in this video, but in all of your videos. I am so happy that I found your channel. As a total beginner with embroidery, I know that I am learning from one of the best. Thank you !!!
Awesome info again! BTW. Nothing g to do w embroidery floss, but you are blessed w beautiful hair, skin and nails. 😊 Love your no nonsense way of teaching. Thanks!
I’ve done the occasional basic hoop with a pdf pattern but really am still a proper beginner because I never invested any time into the „proper way“ of doing things. Your series has been helping me with that! I’m making a hoop for the birth of my baby and it’s my first „free style“ hoop and includes some slightly smaller details which will require me to separate my strands and I’ve never dared to try before. Really great resource- thank you so much for taking the time to share these videos!
Excellent video. The end of thread you cut whether in embroidery or sewing cotton reels makes threading the needle easier as you are going with the twist when it was put onto the skein or reel.
I would love to see how you store your equipment. Threads, hoops, needles, etc.If there is a video on that, please direct me to it. Thanks for all you do.
Fabulous video with so many useful tips. That knot at the end came up on a knot video I watched earlier this week....very useful for tying guy ropes when camping. :D
Wonderful tips! Thank you! I’d like to add one more tip, if I may. When you are down to the last little bit of thread, and you don’t think you can use it, DON”T throw it away. Keep a little bag or jar by your sewing for thread ends, and keep saving them. Eventually, you’ll have a lot to work with. These ends, all mushed together, make great stuffing for little toys and animals, or anything else that needs be stuffed!
I agree that you don't always have to separate all the strands and recombine them before stitching. In some circumstances I do so, such as with satin stitch, for better coverage. I would also separate my strands in most cases for canvaswork, again for better coverage, and I might want to when working cross stitch depending on what ground fabric and how many strands of cotton I'm using. But for a lot of surface embroidery I don't bother. I don't think it matters much on something like stem stitch or split stitch. And for French knots (or any other knots, such as bullions) It works better not to separate and re-combine the strands.
Sarah, I have recently found your channel and I am so grateful for you. You are a wonderful teacher! I am a nurse and discovering embroidery has provided much peace in an incredibly challenging time. And you have inspired me to explore all that you can do with these materials. Could you do a video on “thread painting” and color mixing (techniques and approaches)? Perhaps you have done this and just haven’t found the video, but I have searched. Thank you for all that you do!
Re: whether there’s a nap to the thread/should you use it one direction vs. the other. While this isn’t necessarily an issue with embroidery floss/thread, it IS an issue with wool crewel yarn. Phillipa Turnbull has a video about how to check the “rough” side and “smooth” side.
I always learn something new! I so appreciate that❣ I enjoyed this presentation. I hope you'll do another on hand dyed flosses!! I would love💕 your input on the different types of hoops and frames please Sarah❣
I have just found your channel and subscribed. Thank you so much Sarah, ALL your videos are so interesting and I am learning so much as a beginner. Best wishes from Lottie in Suffolk.
Absolutely full of pertinent information here; thanks much! Love the cat on the shelf to your right. Looks like glass & ceramic, is that a quilt upon it's back? Am a quiltmaking cat lady!
Sarah, I am new to freehand embroidery, and I love your videos. You are such a great professional and teacher! So thank you so much for that. I have a question: what is the difference between using the stranded cotton skeins and using regular thread (like you use for sewing), by cutting the amount of strands you need? Is there a difference between the threads?
Another great video, as usual, Sarah! I would find it very helpful if you could do one on what size of non-stranded thread to use for counted work--I am about to embark on my maiden blackwork and assisi work project (first time for both...I may be biting off more than I can chew!) I watched your 10 threads comparison vid, as well as your blackwork ones, but I'm still left with one question...how thick a thread should I use for various counts of fabric? E.g., do I use a #25 coton a broder for 22-count evenweave, etc. Coton a broder is a little tricky to come by where I live, and I don't want to have to order a bunch of thread sizes that aren't what I need. Thanks so much for your help, and say "hi" to your furry video buddy!
I got my threads from amazon as a part of the beginner kit, I do find need to use the wax though as can get easily knotted...though I am a beginner but that is where I have been going wrong pulling too many threads at once
Awesome video! I am somewhat new to your channel and I am working my way through previous videos. Have you done a video on how to use the twisted up skeins - like the ones you sell? I have not mastered these and always end up in a tangled mess.
I have had crewel skein's recently which have knots within the skein, it's caused some interesting sorting out issues. Some of the figure of 8 ends for drawing out have then been buried and not obviously fixable. From Appleton's I expected better.
This is all very interesting. But, how do you organize the stranded cotton so that you can find your colors when a pattern calls for a particular DMC number? I rewind my "floss" (I'm American) around a bobbin and then run a cable through the eye of the bobbin so that they all remain in order of the DMC number. (I'm so glad I found you !!)
Your videos always so helpful. I wonder if you can tell me if there's another name for Cotton à Broder? Is it the same as Coton Pearlé? I live in France and it is for redwork.
We Brits are the worst for ignoring the fibre content when referring to stuff. Embroidery thread? Stranded cotton. Silk thread? Still stranded cotton. Yarn? Wool. Cotton yarn? Still wool. At least in my household haha
I don't really have enough experience of this technique to know Mrs Tukutela; Floche isn't divided into strands like floss/stranded cotton is so this might make it better for this purpose?
@@SarahHomfrayEmbroidery im quite old. I do know some threads are real silk. However I also grew up with the common term of "silks". We poor folk couldn't afford the real stuff. It didn't stop us using the term silks tho. Lol. Embroidery Silks certainly seems to have stuck in my country/community.
@@elainegothard I'm in the US. In reasearch I see a lot of early 20th century ads that refer to embroidery silks, but then later in the ad they will specify "art silk", i.e., rayon. The phrase embroidery silks is no longer commonly used where I am (as far as I know). The generic word is thread. Floss is used for "divisible" threads. Language is so fascinating! :)
@@VeretenoVids silks is still a common term here (Australia). We're very muticultural and young n old use the term. But thread is extraordinary difficult to get any variety. Embroidery is very much a dead art in this region. Except for bulk xstitch kits.
I keep mine in the skein, and then I store them in small sandwich sized ziploc bags. Those bags usually have a label section where you can write on them in permanent marker. Then I mark them with the 'from' and 'to' number range in the bag, because the bags usually have a number of colours in them..
I use floss bows. The floss can be divided from the center. The floss bow goes inside. They have a small hole to put the end of the floss in. It even has a piece of plastic on the side for you to put the paper that has the number of the color in. They have plastic inserts to put the floss bow in. And, binders to put the inserts in. No more loading.
Cant get the binders, ive managed to obtain some floss bows and again poor postal service (lockdown affected- 4mth delay). Ive made a lot with tongue depressors. Made a v in each end . Then use the zip lock bags to keep them flat.
Hi there, great video! I have a question, totally new to embroidery. I’ve been collecting dmc pearl cotton floss but when I go to separate the strands, there’s no clear distinction at either end or where I cut at. Everything just fluffs up when I attempt to separate them, as if there are no individual strands present. The most I can do is separate out into 2 somewhat smaller strands and even that frays up as I pull. Have I maybe done something wrong to my threads? I made sure to store them all properly since I wasn’t ready to use them yet so I’m not too sure what’s happening and I can’t seem to find anyone else having this problem either. Yours came apart so distinctly and even before you pulled you can see all 6 pieces at the end.
Check which thread you have Artiimoo: DMC perle is a twisted thread and not meant to be separated. DMC stranded cotton/floss is made of 6 separate strand which you can separate
@@SarahHomfrayEmbroidery ahhhh that makes so much more sense! I kept buying the perle type since I thought it was the 6 strand. I’ll be looking into the dmc cotton very soon, and maybe even getting some silk thread. Thank you so much for explaining for me!
I feel like the labels on cheaper skeins are a bit misleading. Like sometimes I think what they call ‘cotton’ is actually viscose made from cotton waste.
