First, I’ve mentioned it before but I’ll say it again. I am not a thread snob. DMC will probably always be my thread of choice simply because (1) I’ve never had any problems with it; (2) It comes in every shade of every color; (3) I can buy it at Hobby Lobby not far from my house and (last but not least) (4) It’s so much less expensive than the overdyes. DMC is about 60 cents for 8 yards. The overdyes run about $2.50 for 5 yards. That’s 7-1/2 cents per yard of DMC and 50 cents per yard of overdye. It makes no sense to stitch an entire project in overdyes but . . to each his own. I certainly don’t fault anyone who wants to do it.
At first I was thinking about it in terms of how much floss a project uses. I rarely use even a half skein of DMC, especially when using one strand. But, it isn’t the amount of floss used so much as it’s the amount of floss purchased and accumulated. Say a project calls for 12 colors. That’s $7.20 for DMC vs. $30 for overdyes. Some projects require 20 colors! It’s a huge expense. Cross stitching takes an enormous amount of time so even if the entire project called for overdyes and they would make a big difference in the way it looks, I’d spring for the overdyes but when it just doesn’t, in my opinion, show off the shading, it’s DMC for me.
The times I’ll use overdyes are when shading matters as in large blocks of color (grass, houses, etc.)
Remember that little story because I’m not going to repeat it again . . ever . . probably! 🙂
Having said that, yesterday I received my first shipment from Colour & Cotton‘s Thread Club. A plus is that these folks are in Missouri. While it doesn’t make a gigantic difference, their skeins do contain 8 yards. For a club where I get monthly surprises, it’s worth the cost . . at least for a while.
I signed up for two groups: All Colors and Primitives/Neutrals – 5 skeins of each per month.
Here’s what I received yesterday:
All Colors:
I took a closeup so the color names would be legible but I see you can read them in the above photo but you can see the shading better in the closeup. The Silver Lining and the Flaxen could really fit with the primitives/neutrals ut I can never have too many beautiful grays and golds so I’m thrilled with them.
Next, here are the primitive, neutrals.
Here’s a closeup of these:
Now I have to wait a whole month before another shipment. 🙁
If any of you want to join the club, there’s probably a wait list. I was on it for maybe four months before being notified they could add me to the list.
Carmen says
The problem I have with overdyes (beside cost) is the amount of shading. If I am going to pay a premium, I want a lot of shading, which some have almost none. I feel that when overdyed floss first came out, there was a lot more shading in the thread.
Judy Laquidara says
I have been using them that long but I do notice some are almost solid. Ordering them, there’s no great way to know what they will look like because the picture isn’t always like what you get.
Carolyn says
If you’re considering Cosmo floss by Lecien, don’t. I bought a bunch of it a few years ago from Anne Sutton of Bunny Hill Designs. I’m using it for the first time in an embroidery project and I’m not a fan. It doesn’t have the shine that DMC has, is rough to pull through the fabric and tangles easily. It also breaks easily. I will continue to use it because I have a bunch of it in some very pretty colors and I only chose it for this project because I couldn’t find my black DMC thread and wanted to do my bumblebee in all the same threads. It just isn’t the same quality as DMC! My two cents…
Judy Laquidara says
Thanks! I already bought it for two projects with Jean Farish so I’ll have to use it but definitely will not buy more unless what I have is way better than what you’re experiencing.