Calculating the Amount of Floss Needed

A reader asked yesterday how I calculate the amount of floss I will need for a chart. I thought maybe others wanted to know so . . here are my thoughts. You know I’m not an expert so take my words with a grain of salt.

There is a floss calculator here. You have to know many stitches you will be making of each color. I do see that on some charts but, very rarely.

Some places, 123 Stitch for sure, will have the floss requirements listed. Take Teresa Kogut’s For the Love of Nature, here is a screenshot of a portion of the floss requirements.

You will see it calls for 3 skeins of Crimson. There’s one color it calls for 4 skeins.

You also will need to know if you’re stitching 1 over 2 (one floss strand over two linen threads) or 2 over 2 (two floss strands over 2 linen threads). Obviously two strands is going to take twice as much floss as one strand and stitching on 32 count will take more floss than stitching over 40 count because the length of each stitch is a tiny bit longer.

I’m stitching For the Love of Nature on 36 count linen and using one strand of floss but, just to be safe, I ordered the number of skeins called for when stitching 2 over 2 on 32 count.

Remember there may be some amount of ripping. I don’t re-use the floss so whatever I have to rip out is tossed.

It’s always better to order the overdyes at the same time and hopefully get the same dye lot. If you order one skein, find yourself running short and have to order a second skein, it may not be a close match.

I generally look at the chart online. Say it has a big red houses with a lot of red in the border. If it calls for one skein, I’ll order two just to be safe. I am still building up my floss stash so an extra skein or two in each order doesn’t bother me too much.

Having a floss stash is always good, especially if you don’t live near a shop. The called for colors may not all work on your linen, even if you’re using the called for linen. Sometimes from one dye pot to another, the colors are fairly different. 32 count may dye up a different color from 40 count so having extra floss to choose from is a time saver.

The good news is that most charts have a DMC conversion and those of us who have Michael’s or Hobby Lobby nearby can find DMC there.

Don’t be afraid to change the floss colors. If there’s a big red house and it calls for Louisiana Hot Sauce but you like Cherry Cobbler better, switch to Cherry Cobbler if it goes with the other colors. But, for the record, I love Louisiana Hot Sauce but not on top of my Cherry Cobbler! 🙂