Does the Quality of Your Embroidery Floss Really Matter?

Today, we are talking about thread quality and the 5 tests I use to find out how good my floss is… which, of course, can't be done without singing the praises of my personal (not a sponsor) brand, DMC.
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[@ThundermansThunder]

I know this is 2 years old, but I really felt it in my soul, when I saw you stroking that DMC chart calling it "my precious." 😜 I have loved embroidery since I was a boy, along with other yarn arts, such as knitting, crotchet, etc. My children and my grandchildren have interests in them, too, so I guess it runs in the family. My observations of floss from other brands are exactly the same as yours. I have gotten some good floss from other brands, but nothing is ever as consistently good, in every way, as DMC. I have quite a stash, myself, in those wonderful plastic boxes. A few people I have known like to keep similar colors together, but I like to keep them in numerical order throughout every big box, and I use a smaller box for each project as I work, each one in numerical order, so that I can always quickly find a specific color, even if I should need it on another project. I like your content, so I am subscribing right now! 🥰

[@jant4741]

❤ Don’t hear many talking about loving embroidery from childhood. Ditto!

[@gailjoynt-sigley9929]

I started to embroider when I was two years old. My grandmother taught me to keep me quiet 😂. I got into a right tangled mess, but by the time Grandad came home for lunch I had embroidered the petals of a flower. I am now 74 years old and love to embroider. ❤❤

[@dawsie]

I have been using DMC for 50 years now, I just love the quality but also I can buy it bulk on the cone for white, black and some of the basic standard fill colours. I buy the white so I can dye my own colours as needed. I have used Anchor, I hate it, it always fray to use it I have to use in 10” lengths, and even then it frays, I always convert it to DMC if it’s an Anchor picture. I have used Madeira(Australian I think) it’s not bad the quality is good but I find it costs more than DMC. Their range is not as big as DMC. Silky thread is okay but it’s not silk, and it’s more of a thread for machine embroidery than hand, I don’t do machine but I did inherit Mom’s Husqvarna Viking embroidery machine😳 still have to learn how to use it, just realised it’s 25 years old but looks brand new(she really looked after her machines) Love real silk thread very expensive(Japanese silk from Japan online) I have used Chinese silk embroidery threads but for some reason I can not trust that it’s really 100% silk it feels totally different. I have a heap of polyester and rayon skeins I thought would be a good substitute for silk(wrong) I will use them up but will not buy again bought them online. I’m not a fan of polyester threads I have used a mixed cotton/polyester but again not really a fan of it. Every time I try a different brand that comes with some kits, I find myself looking for the DMC closets shade to theirs. I can use an arms length of DMC and not have it fraying by the time I get to the end of the strand, does it knot yep but I have learnt to drop the needle hang the item up and let the needle untwist and so the knots stop until the thread starts twisting again. I still have some of my DMC threads from old projects in my stash their colours are no longer part of the current colour chart their numbers are never reused later down the track for other colours, a plus for DMC this is why their colour charts look so odd numbering wise but not colour wise. The best part of having DMC threads in my collection from 40 years ago is that I can compare the old threads to the current threads and their quality is just as good today as it was back then, are they different, yes simply because the spinning of the threads have improved in the past 40 years. What I have noticed is that’s todays threads are thinner compared to my older ones and I need to use more strands today compared to how many I use to use back then. Now that I have made my self feel very very old 😹😹😹I’m off to make a well earned morning cup of coffee 😹😹😹 Thank you I’m glad that I’m not the only one to notice the quality between brands.🤗🤗

[@susanrussell8195]

I’m glad I’m not the only one with thread from 30 years ago with numbers I can’t find.

[@bittersweet3-]

This was like a hx of floss!

[@LJ-oi3pz]

italian here! i started embroidery when i was 10-ish years old, and i always used anchor threads :)

[@Maxmaxmaxmax444]

I've not been embroidering for a while (fell into other hobbies) but i still love your videos. This is just exactly my speed of embroidery and crafty content. Its dumb but it feels like every video was made specifically for me.

[@gettheetothestitchery]

That makes me so happy to hear!!

[@ViolaMedolli]

Hi there from Italy,! I work in textiles brand and I can assure that DMC is well known for its seriousness! I have experienced myself, hence I buy only DMC : I have tried else in the past but noticed on towels of my children that what's not DMC loses colours and brightness, but embroideries with DMS yarns do not! Thanks for this video!

[@gettheetothestitchery]

That's so great to hear from someone with experience!

[@savdebunnies]

It's honestly pretty wild to me that somehow DMC is both the most common and still really high quality. I've found most of the other string and yarn craft things in the US, the most common tends to be some of the lowest quality.

[@arianne2670]

Well, this confirms that the thread I'm currently using is crap, but I like to think this means that when I'll be able to afford quality thread I'll be much more skilled 😂 Thank you for this video, I loved both the information and the fun delivery!

[@gettheetothestitchery]

I'm so glad you enjoyed it! And a good quality floss is sure to help you improve your embroidery skills!

[@JoanneBerndsen]

Great video ! Another way to see/test the quality is when you unpick stitches from aida ! DMC holds it together while another brand shreds, thins and seems to disintegrate.

[@camille_la_chenille]

I use DMC mostly because that's what they sell at my local sewing store but I inherited one or two skeins of Anchor floss from my grandma's sewing suppiles and one was the most beautiful dark-grey/blue/almost black but with a lighter shimmer floss I've ever seen and I couldn't find any colour matching in the DMC selection. I used every last bit of this skein for a project and had to make my own blend of gray and black DMC for the "companion piece" to match as best as I could.

[@BenitaStory]

Another thing I have noticed in the difference between DMC and other brands is the shine. DMC has a lovely shine and others just don't have any at all. The only thing I use lower quality threads for is for learning new stitch techniques or figuring out what looks best next to one another color-wise. For example, I am learning blackwork using the Royal School of Needlework Book of Embroidery, and, because I'm new at this, I tend to make lots of mistakes until I understand the pattern and can do it consistently. I have no problems using the lower quality threads for this. Why waste good thread for the learning process?

[@knackability7098]

Just a hint, while pinching toward the top of your strand, gently tap the very top to separate the strands and gently and slowly pull one thread out at a time and it will most likely not tangle.

[@gettheetothestitchery]

That's a great way to separate one strand at a time!

[@kathrynjames6151]

I personally have never had many issues with using cheaper threads for my projects, but many of my projects are not very detailed and for personal enjoyment only. I do have one larger project in the works now, and I have been using DMC for it because there are to many shades of gray for me to match with the other threads I have. I would definitely recommend DMC for larger projects.

[@KristiChan1]

I shouldn't be binge watching at night; this made me roll out of bed to see which brands I have in my collection (fairly new to embroidery and only embroidered a handful of things in the past 4 years). I generally hunt for my supplies at thrift stores and uh, I have a fairly robust stock now lol. I have forbidden myself from counting exactly how much of each brand I have (I would like to go back to bed quick-ish) but it seems predominately DMC and Iris. I even have some vintage DMC apparently, as well as a small handful of vintage J. & P. Coats/Coats & Clark, Lily Craft, Wonder Art and American Thread. Some of these vintage ones look to be on par with DMC. Ok, The Brain™is satisfied I can now go back to bed and binge some more!

[@lynseywinter9188]

I’ve use dmc threads all the time but the metallics are rubbish they just fall apart and you use more than you think. But i find anchor metallics are great you have to double or triple the threads but you get a better finish

[@gettheetothestitchery]

That's great to know! I've only used the metallic floss a few times and definitely struggled with it, so I'll have to see if I can find it from Anchor.

[@ThundermansThunder]

@@gettheetothestitchery Beeswax works wonderfully well to strengthen the thread and reduce fraying. When I first learned about this tip, I was using some troublesome metallic floss, but I didn't have any beeswax. I decided to experiment by cutting a thin sliver from a bar of white soap to use, instead, as it would just wash out when completed, and it worked. I have since used beeswax, which does seem to protect it better, but the soap does work.

[@xSmudgestickx]

with metallic thread you need to wax it then its usually fine

[@nowirehangers2815]

Use it very short and use a wax like thread Heaven

[@lifeofjoy9404]

I agree! I prefer Madeira metallics.

[@yackan9086]

Tip to needle: use needle threader OR just lick ends. To easily separate threads: hold floss in one hand and pull 1 thread at a time, streach floss after each pull to avoid knoting on second time. To avoid knoting: use shorted thread OR streach it when you see it starting to tie on itself, just pull needle down to canvas and pull thread through your hand it will streach itself OR use the stitcher (it's a thimble with a needle on it) you put needle between a stitch and it helps in making even stitches. I would love to use DMC, but when I see prises on it I want to cry, also they get only higher.

[@denissegomez7592]

I has been super difficult for me to find DMC. I think the only way it is available in my country is online. I've used anchor and Iris, there's a big difference!! With Iris I lose so much thread because of knots. Also, I've tried the shein ones, they're not bad, I don't really get many knots with them but getting the same color would be a nightmare and some other issues

[@gettheetothestitchery]

Great info! I've definitely heard some good things about Anchor, and it seems to be much more widely available worldwide.

[@shellykearney7821]

The one Thread that rules them all! Precious DMC🪡🧵

[@gettheetothestitchery]

Hahahahaha my thoughts exactly!

[@shellykearney7821]

@@gettheetothestitchery 😁

[@dawsie]

😹😹love the golem reference made me laugh.

[@conniegarvie]

I always separate strands of floss from the center of the cut length. It's always worked with quite minimal tangling.

[@Zeldur]

So I've started back on my embroidery project and was getting a bunch of knots with DMC, lilely from just using fabric quarters and embroidery backing. I used the old beeswax trick from historical techniques and WOW it helps keep the thread from knotting. I can quickly go over it with a lighter to basically melt away the sheen and the sheen wears off towards the end of the thead anyway

[@susanrussell8195]

Absolutely. I am currently doing the laid work sampler. I chose to not buy pearl floss because I wanted to use up all this vintage non-DMC floss I have accumulated from estate sales and being gifted someone else’s stuff. It’s not fun. Some is DMC that I don’t know the corresponding number. I thrill when I choose one I know in my heart is DMC. I’ve used Coats & Clark, Anchor, Star, Majesty, etc. DMC is so clearly superior. Even the o-l-d DMC is superior. I have some that is 30+ years old.

[@marinaabad4995]

Two year later I find your video. I have always used DMC, except for un-named floss in kits. I recently did a quilt kit with embroidered blocks intermixed with fabric blocks. The floss came with it was Cosmos. Talk about difficult separation, ends splayed out so I had to use a threader, the frayed end tails, and knotting. I had to wax each strand separately to make it smooth. The colors weren't that great. I will never buy that brand. I give the lousy floss to my granddaughters to make floss bracelets.

[@qianmia-i8g]

how about cosmo?

[@shannonbrown7488]

DMC also has a nice sheen to it that some cheaper floss does not have.

[@gettheetothestitchery]

Very true! You can see the difference right away!

[@dawsie]

Yes that’s so very true, I have DMC that’s 40 odd years old in my stash and they still look great today(I buy bulk numbers more than needed for projects I hate running out of threads lol) and I have been embroidering for over 40 years I think some of my threads are older as their numbers are not produced anymore. It’s why their current collection has such large numbers to them.

[@susanrussell8195]

This is absolutely true.

[@dorithegreat6155]

I'm based in Poland, so my thread stash consists of mostly Ariadna (local brand, not quite as good as DMC but certainly up there. Also cheaper.) but I have a lot of unlabeled thread I got from my mom, that she had from various embroidery kits. Most of them seem perfectly normal and in fact I suspect they're Ariadna as well. However, i had a few strands of beutiful, silky in touch threads that seemed wonderful but it DID NOT want to stay together to the point that threading a needle with two strands proved really difficult Also, I found some threads in my grandma's supplies that are actual garbage. I did not imagine you could make thread that bad

[@amechealle5918]

I started using Cosmo from Japan my friend who lives there told me she likes it so much better than DMC sent me a bunch. I have to say I’m completely switching to Cosmos hopefully will get my colors but I’m so sick of DMC.

[@femmina63]

Very helpful yet funny presentation. I am a new embroiderer, and I’ve been watching lots of videos. When you separate thread, do you need to intertwine them again? I feel like I saw someone separate six threads and then put them back together. Maybe that was a dream. I’ve been watching lots of videos. Lol

[@gettheetothestitchery]

So there are a couple different ways to separate your threads, and what you may have seen is someone who likes to separate all six strands first, then put back together the number of strands they want to embroider with, whether that be 2 or 4 or whatever. I don't personally do this, because I just find it easier to separate out the exact number of strands I want in the first place, but it's really just a personal preference!

[@dawsie]

I use to do that all the time, specially if using two different shades of the same colour. But now if I want 3 I just take three, I have a mark on my table that I use so that every strand I cut is the same length only because I do add different coloured stands together when doing French knot filling. It gives it a nicer look using two different shades of the same colour filling or if doing the knots to make flowers I use different colours and it gives it a natural feel to the flowers. Over time you work out what works best for you when doing your projects.

[@KatiJaha]

I only use Anchor and DMC.

[@gettheetothestitchery]

Two great brands!

[@debbieolagues5283]

Hi, I stumbled upon your video and really enjoyed it. I .am going to start embroidering again after years of not embroidering. I nave some floss that is old, some you can even call vintage because it was bought in the eighties or before. Wait, would that make it antique? Well, from experience I know that old floss is not good to use on items you are going to wash. I used some old Coats and Clark (now JP Coats) royal blue floss I inherited form an aunt on a pillow case. Needless to say, after many washes, the floss started to fall apart and I was left with a partially embroidered pillowcase. When I decided to start embroidering again I went to my local Walmart and bought a bag of every color combination of JP Coats I could find, and lots of bobbins and floss boxes. As I opened each bag and started to spin each bobbin I began to notice that something was different. The floss just didn't feel the same. I also noticed that, over the years, the numbers on the skeins of floss have been done away with. I bought this floss because of the quality I remembered. I found the floss to be a bit...dryer...rougher to the touch. I guess I will just have to stitch my way through the new floss and replace it with DMC as I go. I will use my vintage and antique floss only on items that will hang on the wall. Thanks for your video. I got a lot of good information from it.

[@gettheetothestitchery]

That's so interesting to hear! It's a shame that their quality has gone down over the years, but that's exactly what I noticed with the JP Coats floss I have - rougher and dryer to the touch. It's definitely worthwhile to invest in high quality thread for items that will be going in the wash... it's such a shame that all your work was lost through the laundry!

[@MegaKellyschannel]

Anchor used to be the go to in NZ, but many years ago now the quality suddenly dropped (bought out? New manufacturing technique?) And now the colours will change batch to batch (and rub off on your aida) and the knotting drives me CRAZY! Also I can't find anchor anywhere except in kits these days. DMC is the only name brand I've found in NZ these days, but it works well.

[@gettheetothestitchery]

Crazy! I'm always so confused when a brand I love suddenly seems to change it's product.... quite disappointing. But I'm glad you're still able to find DMC at least!

[@faizaqaiser980]

Anchor's thread quality has also deteriorated in Pakistan . I know because I observed the work my sister's did in the past using it to the threads I have now . It's a shame because it is the only brand we get here.

[@dawsie]

Your right I have anchor threads that are very old bought when I first started doing embroidery work 48 years ago, they were almost as good as DMC back then, but the stuff you get today is very poor quality. The three brands in Australia is DMC, Madeira and Anchor. I will use the first two before I would even be tempted to by Anchor, as all 6 strands are okay to use I would never split the strands up at all as they fray really badly. This is something that DMC and Madeira don’t do. I work with 18” strand lengths and the last 4-5 inches I never use unless push comes to shove. I hate working with 10” strands forever threading needles drive me nuts.

[@JulieBaker-os7lr]

Can i use same dmc with ultra punch needlw

[@conniemurdoch8528]

Just curious do you wax and iron your floss? I used to do counted cross-stitch and late in that “career” I learned about ironing floss and it was a game changer. The coverage and consistency of my stitches was immediately better. FYI I eventually got sick of running to the ironing board to iron more floss so I decided to can the whole idea. That lasted 1 row and I decided I had to figure it out. It took awhile but one morning I found my daughter’s hair flatiron had been left turned on and hot on the bathroom counter after several hundreds of reminders so I decided to “put it away” so she would panic and try to guess what I was going to make her do to get it back. Basically all I wanted her to do was to ask, so that I could lecture about how unsafe and uncool it was to waste energy like that. But as I carried the flatiron to my bathroom I was thinking what else could I iron with this to use up the heat? Then I remembered not just my floss but all the tiny silk ribbon for embroidery that I also started to iron and now couldn’t go back. So I took it to my basket where I used it to iron ribbon, floss, and I even took out some creases in my Aida cloth. BTW I’ve always called it “ay-da” with the accent on the first syllable). So I now keep a hair straightener next to my chair on my silicon cookie sheet liner - which (the liner) is great for sewing also if you use it under your pieces that you are ironing fusible interfacing on. You will never get those gummy little lines on your ironing board cover because a tiny bit of fusible gunk melted out from under the edges of your pattern piece onto the cover. I hated those! So back to the ribbon and floss. I eventually gave up on counted cross stitch and started smocking again. I had done a lot of smocking when my kids were small. They grew up and no longer felt like they were young enough for smocked dresses but I had grandkids by then and they loved my smocked things. I was down with ironing floss by then but I asked someone whose work I admired how she prepped her thread for smocking use and she said I strip, wax and iron my floss! I always waxed my thread for hand sewing but had never thought of waxing the embroidery thread. So I gave it a try and again I was surprised at how easy it was to do and how much better coverage I go. Two threads waxed looked like three threads of not waxed and it always filled the square that it was stitched in. I will warn you, you might wish you never tried it if you don’t think you will want to spend the time doing it. ** it literally takes me seconds if I have the flat iron next to me. ** also when I wax floss I put the number of strands I’m using side by side and iron them so that the wax seals them together *** You get way less tangling when you wax your floss.

[@bittersweet3-]

My takeaway is Ur use of flatiron + cookie sheet - silicon. I can use these ideas. Thx. Ciao.

[@33Jenesis]

Cheap floss is not 100% cotton and hard to get thru smaller eye needles. I worked on crewel and cross stitch kits (Dimensions) I bought 30 year ago. 100% cotton floss, smooth and silky. I just started on kits I bought recently. Omg what a freaking difference!!!!! Hard to separate, accidental knotting many times (re-do and cutting), fraying, and the finished surface not smooth (fuzzy).

[@Yatsua]

I'm a beginner and I've bought cheap floss (because I want to use them as practice before getting good at it and use good quality when I embroider on my clothes) and I noticed that on my satin stitch patches the result doesn't always look neat. Rather it looks like the threads frayed (?) and like I've had that embroidery piece for a long time and has been in the washing machine already.

[@gettheetothestitchery]

That's a common problem with lower quality flosses for sure! It just seems like the fibers of the threads aren't twisted together as smoothly and tightly, so fraying and wispy bits are much more frequent. But hey - I did the same thing when I started - you don't always want to use the good stuff for practice!

[@sandrasherriherrington5036]

I allow the needle to hand down whilst the thread untwist. You need to do this no matter what your sewing with.

[@gettheetothestitchery]

A great tip!

[@dawsie]

Same here, it stops most knotting issues, but not all. The quality of the thread I find is the cause for most knotting as it starts fraying it’s the number one cause of my knotting issues.

[@lubapatitucci5831]

I totally agree.

[@josephinemelendez8221]

There is achor thread and jp coats thread and I found loops and thread that's the threads I usually use

[@conniegarvie]

I've used DMC for every single project I've made since 1977. With the very few kits I've used, I will change out the provided floss for DMC. I haven't used metallic since about 1980.

[@afirmrose]

Back when I was cross stitching I only used DMC

[@kaziabubokkorsiddique7650]

I like DMC threads.

[@DebiSmithPouliot]

I've also noticed that some of the lesser quality flosses are not colorfast. Very annoying.

[@gettheetothestitchery]

Very true - not a great quality if you're embroidering on clothing!

[@deekang6244]

Haha!My precious..

[@lucy7b]

Anchor has much nicer shades than DMC and it is just as high quality. I mainly buy my threads second hand. I’m in the UK. Both Anchor and DMC are readily available.

[@youarebymyside]

Ironically, I wouldn't call DMC the best thread. One or two strands are really skinny and don't cover the cross stitches like it should be, for example. Embroidery I also prefer with other thread (like CXC because they're thicker). Anchor is nice too.

[@maenynforsyth9414]

Has anyone ever heard of J&P coats. Would love to learn more about this floss

[@gettheetothestitchery]

I have! I actually have a lot of their thread that has been gifted to me over the years. I'm not the hugest fan... their floss strands are more coarse and therefore they tend to be more difficult to split cleanly and they tangle more. That being said, in a pinch, they still get the job done!

[@debbieolagues5283]

JP Coats Used to be called Coats and Clark. I grew up seeing my mom, aunts and grandmother use it and I even have some vintage skeins I inherited from an aunt and my grandmother. Coats and Cark is what I learned to embroider with. I learned to crochet with their Red Heart yarn too. I recently looked the company up online and found some information there. Very interesting company history. You might want to look there. good luck.

[@debbieolagues5283]

@@gettheetothestitchery The way I was taught to separate JP Coats's floss is to separate three strands just a little bit then put three strands between your lips. With one hand begin pulling the other three strands away while twirling the hanging six strands with the fingers of your other hand. It works.

[@gettheetothestitchery]

@@debbieolagues5283 Yeah, that's a great way to separate thread for sure!

[@lucy7b]

😊😊😊

[@lugaruna]

Not sponserd by dmc, but it would be great if it was. *Nudge* *nudge* *blinkety* *blink* *puppydog eyes* Notice/sponser me dmc senpai! Something like that?:p Okay so im trying to limit myself from posting to much random stuff in one post on one video... But my gosh that moment where you said exactly made you look like an evil mastermind or vilainXD.

[@gettheetothestitchery]

Hahahahaha oops gotta be careful to keep my inner evil mastermind from showing... XD

[@lugaruna]

Yea sometimes those buggers just crawl to the surface and show a glimmer of themselfs:p

[@msullivan3531]

Colorization = dye lot

[@alejandroterrazas3081]

DMC to me is actually German. The city it is from was originally German and the family was German. I prefer Anchor. Much better quality than DMC. No knots. DMC always knots for me constantly. Unfortunately, I have to use DMC because it is hard to find Anchor. Anchor is more durable. It doesn't fray as much as DMC.

[@marinaabad4995]

DMC floss is French. Made in Mulhouse, France, since 1746. Gutterman sewing thread is made in Germany.