Question About Floss – My Response

Terry asked this question in the post yesterday about preparing a project for stitching.

Hi Judy, thanks for the pointers! Just wondering why you pull the DMC if you are not going to use DMC?

Terry

I love it when y’all ask questions about why I do things because either (1) I don’t even know why I do things the way I do . . this is how I started doing it and it works so I continue or (2) I’ve just never thought about it and maybe I need to re-think why I do what I do!

Most charts will offer a DMC conversion even if the chart was charted for silk or overdyes and that’s how the model was stitched.

I have all the DMC floss colors and I keep them in little photo boxes that are numbered 1-99, 100-199, etc. and the little boxes fit into a carrier so, I’ll take the carrier with all the floss into the downstairs bedroom where the bed is always made, the lighting is decent, the cat isn’t in there, and it’s close to my linen storage. I’ll pull all the floss and spread it out on several pieces of linen I’ve pulled that I hope will work.

The reasons I pull DMC, even if I’m planning to use overdyes or silks:

Overdyes:

I do not have all the overdyes. The chart may call for Weeks Dye Works’ Oscar and I may not have it. (But, I will always have several skeins of Oscar because it is one of my favorites and that’s why my pup is named Oscar!). I can use the DMC skein to look through the other overdyes I have. There’s Classic Colorworks, Gentle Arts, Victorian Motto, Colour & Cotton, Leo & Roxy and probably others. I can always find something that’s close enough or, if the Oscar is used in bits and pieces here and there, where the variation in color isn’t going to show anyway, I’ll use the DMC color.

Silks:

I use a lot of Victoria Clayton’s silks. She has “packets” and I can order the packet, which is her conversion so if a chart calls for DMC 613, which is a tan, I know that Victoria Clayton’s conversion is going to be a spot on, perfect match to DMC 613 so I’ll go back to the DMC floss that I have and find a lighter or darker color that will show up. I’ll still order Victoria Clayton’s packet but I’ll add a bobbin of her conversion for whatever color I decided would be a good substitute.

I have the DMC Color Chart so I can look at that and choose which floss I think might work before pulling the floss from the boxes.

Basically, I use the DMC as a reference, eve if I’m not going to use it for stitching.

By the way, I have nothing against DMC floss. My current project is DMC. I happen to love stitching with silk but if I’m using cotton, unless the variation in the overdyes is going to show, it’s DMC for me.

Hope this is what you were wanting to know.