I was just looking at some DMC 554 (lavendar-ish color) against fabric and asked DH for his opinion. He said, "I like that one, but not that one...too blue." Huh? Same color!
Lo and behold, I pulled the two skeins out and looked in full sunlight, and the "new" one (beige label with bar code) is decidedly pinker than the "old" one (black label).
Anybody have an explanation? Is this a one-off, or was that number reformulated at some point?
Sue
I know that purple generally fades to pink so could the explanation be that one is very old and has faded a bit?
Lucille
I don't know about that particular color, Susan, but I have noticed that colors can be slightly different if purchased at different times. I usually try to buy enough thread to complete a project (and some extra for my stash!) but I've been caught, too. It's a good rule of thumb to purchase all your thread at once because you can be sure the companies are always changing formulation a bit or conditions in the factory might change.
Barb
Susan Hartman wrote:
I have found that the newly purchased DMC colors are no always true to the older ones in my stash. This has shown up in a lot of different shades. I guess that is why I have so many part skeins and none of them totally match each other, same numbers on all of them. Didn't this happen when new rules went into effect on the use of certain dyes? Clarice in AZ
Pat
Yep. Someone evinced interest in my flamingo pattern, so I figured that better be the next one I model stitch. I had a small amount of the required pink thread (I think it's 603, off the top of my head), but iffy whether it would be enough to complete the stitching, so I bought more. That one is definitely "dusty rose" more than "screaming pink".
And got me thinking that maybe I should do a second model with a tweed of pink and coral to get the real color of flamingos.
Except, there is no source for anchor within 200 miles from me. And I can't buy fibers off the internet. I need to see them in real life - photos are never very accurate.
Even the DMC website states that one should pay attention to the dye lot code so this won't happen -- however - they don't tell you where to find the dye lot code so you can be sure you're getting the same. When I asked at my local LNS, they didn't know either, but suggested I just buy a whole box of whatever color. Black and white and ecru -- maybe. Any other color I would never in a million years use that many skeins. And since I usually do patterns with many, many colors - 50 is not unusual - that simply isn't realistic.
I am always amazed that DMC, or Anchor for that matter, can keep their colors so consistent year after year. It is quite amazing. But it does not always work. There are differences in color between different batches. The worst color, strangely enough, is black. However, while the eye can see the differences, they dont show up unless you have quite large areas of the color. If stitches are fairly well scattered over the pattern, it will usually not matter. Which brings me back to an old hobby horse of mine, It is always wise to buy enough floss to finish the project before you start stitching. Then you can guarantee the colors match.
The other thing you can do is blend the two dyelots - either one thread of each - or by just really scattering the stitches of both dye lots in a larger area. I`ve had to do that with DMC before now, and it worked very well. Laborious, but it IS an answer.
Pat
Me, too. But, the US rules on dyes - especially affecting red dyes, changed more than 15 years ago. DMC may have slightly reformuslated - I'd guess it's just how old is old, versus dye lots. These threads are supposed to hold their color - as long as they're not in UV light, etc..
It is weird for a dye lot variation to be very distinct in a "color" . It's always a problem with pale colors, especially whites.
ellice
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