Nymo question

It really depends on what stitch you will be doing and which country your beads come from. Czech beads have smaller holes than Japanese seedbeads.

Some stitches only have a couple of thread passes, while others have numerous ones.

The majority of available Nymo comes in sizes OO, O, B, D, F. F being the largest.

With Japanese size 11's I generally use a size B for most of my weaving projects. You can use D in many cases.

OO I reserve for repair work on size 15's or smaller. O for repair work on

11's if I think it will work, B if I can get away with it.

I only use F to stitch larger size beads to fabric. Like around the hem of blue jeans where there will be lots of movement.

So, after all that...LOL I recommend sizes B & D for most anything you might be doing. ;o)

There are two camps on Nymo. Those who love it, those who don't. I have been using it for over 30 years and have never had a problem with breakage because of the thread.

Beki

Ooooooooooooooo boy, I'm getting overwhelmed again, and this doesn't even involove picking out beads. B is the smallest? I knew there was a B and a D, but didn't know about the F. Is O the weight? Is O lighter than OO?

Also, so you use beeswax on your thread? It seems like I read something about that. I remember a friend's mother using it for sewing, when I was a kid.

If its for the spiral rope with size 11...use size Zero. You pass through the core (inside) beads approx. 5 times, so you need the thinnest Nymo available. Don't forget to condition it well to help your stitching. It you are using size 8's, you can use any size or even C-Lon and Slidamide (sp?).

Hope this helps :) Janet R

Ew! GOD I HATE NYMO!!!!!!!! (I use silamide or those fishing lines) ~~ Sooz To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong. ~~Joseph Chilton Pearce

Jerri, I have 800 yards that I will never use, white, don't know what size. Email me with your snail mail and I'll send it to you.

Kar>

OO is the lightest, then O, D, B, and F is the thickest. OO, O, and D have lots of stretch, so be sure to give each piece you cut a good stretching before you use it. This also takes most of the curl out of it as well. B and F don't stretch as much, but it's a good idea to stretch them first, too, just in case.

My LBS has mostly O and D, and some B. D has the widest selection of colors available. YMMV. If you don't have a wide selection of colors, see if you can get grey and/or beige in addition to black and white, so it will have a better chance of blending with medium colors.

A thread conditioner like beeswax or Thread Heaven helps to reduce curling, tangling and unwanted knotting. I usually use Thread Heaven on my Nymo, unless I'm doing something that requires more body, in which case I use beeswax. (You can get Thread Heaven in most fabric stores -- quilters like it, too.) Beeswax, however, will "shed" little bits of wax all over your work, and sometimes clog up the bead holes.

Then, there's the business of needles. Always be sure to use the correct size needle for the size of thread you're using. If you use a needle that's too small for the thread, say a size 13 with Nymo B, the motion of drawing the thread through the beads will cause weak spots in the thread, which will eventually break. (We've been there together, haven't we, Beki?) That's to say nothing about what a PIA it is to get fat thread through the eye of a skinny needle. A size 10 needle is larger than a size 13.

There are some folks here who will try to sell you on Power Pro and other braided fishing line-type beading thread. It works OK, but is stiffer than Nymo, and I, at least, can't get it through anything but a size 10 needle -- and even then I have to flatten the end of the thread with a pair of pliers. It has its uses, of course, like stringing single seed beads as a chain, but maybe a beginner would not want to invest in something relatively expensive just to mess around with. Nymo is cheap enough that you shouldn't feel too badly about wasting a yard or two per project.

HTH,

Arondelle

If you look carefully at the cardboard bobbin, you will see a letter stamped into it. This denotes the size.

Arondelle

I use B for all my spiral ropes with no problem. Kerry only uses B for all her beadweaving projects. She even uses it with 13s.

15s do require smaller thread and needles. Armand

Yes, I know, it's just that I'm at work and it's at home. :-) Thanks though!

Kar>

OO is the thinest and can be snapped easily with your hands. That is why I reserve it for repair work on little tiny beads.

O is the next size up. With a bit more force it can also be snapped, but when run thru the beads several times, it becomes strong in numbers. Because it is so thin, it will knot easily.

B is the next size up. A medium weight. Much more force would be required to snap it. I can't do it, but I have seen it done. It is strong, yet still thin enough to make several passes thru the hole. Even on Czech 11's you can pass it thru about 8 times on size 13 needle. Maybe 6 times on a 12 needle before you would start getting stuck.

D is the next size up. I think it would cut into your flesh before it would snap. It is about 1 1/2 times thicker than B, so your thread passes decrease rapidly.

F is the next size up. I would compare the thickness to waxed dental floss.

Nymo on the cone or spool is different from Nymo on a bobbin. The bobbin variety is flatter, makes it easier to thread, but it will also begin to fray on you after time. Work with shorter lengths to help avoid this. Nymo on the cone is a rounded fiber. Harder to thread (unless you drag it between your front teeth to flatten it) but it doesn't fray as easily.

I rarely use a thread conditioner, and if I do it would be Thread Heaven. Beeswax will attract dirt and will clog the holes of your beads.

Always thread your needle with the piece of thread that is coming off the bobbin or spool. You can remember to do this by threading your needle first, and then cutting your length of thread.

If you use Thread Heaven, pass your thread thru it twice and then using your fingernail run it down the entire length of thread. This activates the anti-static coating.

John James beading needles (the kind I recommend) are commonly available in 10,

12, 13 & 15. 10 being the largest. There are also sharps beading needles available in 10 & 12. Sharps are more commonly used for stitching into fabric, but lots of beaders like to use them to weave with also. They are about 3/4 of the size of a standard beading needle, so they don't bend about as much.

You can thread a B Nymo through a 15 needle, but it's not much fun! ;o) I reserve my 15's for repair work. I will use 13's when I need to get thru some tight spaces. OO, O, B thread. I use size 12 for almost everything else. All sizes of thread, but the F would be difficult. Once in a while I will use a 10 if I know I won't be using a seedbead smaller than a size 11. All sizes of thread.

Hope this is helping you out, Jerri.

Beki

Forget Jerri! It's helping ME out tremendously! And I hope Sooz is capturing it all for the infamous Bead List.

Thank you so much, Beki - it's so wonderful to have someone with your experience boiling down all the variables into an easy to understand and follow discussion.

Mj

It will definitely go into Bead Notes.

For newbies, this is BN:

>Forget Jerri! It's helping ME out tremendously! And I hope Sooz is >capturing it all for the infamous Bead List.

~~ Sooz To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong. ~~Joseph Chilton Pearce

Someone, I think on this group?, said that the Nymo on bobbins, which comes in a variety of colors, was originally used for topstitching upholstery... it seems to be weaker to me and to fray more.

The Nymo on spools was used to sew the pieces of upholstery fabric together, and it is more durable and doesn't fray as badly.

The difference becomes more apparent when you are beading a design with mulitple passes through the beads. Nymo on spool works much better.

I use size B Nymo in white for most everything. If your beads are dark and bits of the white show, you can tint the thread with a permanent marker.

I also ended up with some Nymo E in black somehow... on smaller spools. It's a really sturdy weight, but it's hard to get more than one pass through beads, especially older seeds and pearls.

I usually use thread heaven, also beeswax occasionally. I typically warp several needles (I like 13's) per project, so I'd advise buying lots of them! LOL

HTH

Thanks Becki,

I've printed this out for my files. Thanks so much for explaining it!

Thanks for pointing out about using the right needles. I had no idea!

I've been using a 10, but I have no idea what kind of Nymo I'm using. If it was marked, it must have been on the container that held the nymo, because it's not on the spool.

Thanks Karin! I've sent you my address.

If you bought it at Beads by Design, and it's on a bobbin, and it came out of one of the little bins up by the cash register, chances are good it's B. Sometimes it's marked on the bobbin.

I know Melanie doesn't use beeswax or thread heaven, but I use thread heaven and think it makes a difference in tangling. I also use beeswax as a last resort if the Nymo seems particularly fray prone. Just make sure you have almost all of the beeswax rubbed off before you start stitching.

I have not found Nymo at my local Hobby Lobby. I gave up a couple of years ago and bought a collection of size B bobbins on eBay.

The Nymo on bobbins is different than Nymo on spools. My very favorite thread is black Nymo D on a spool.

And (sorry, Sooz) I hate Silamide. I bought a huge spool and every time I use it I swear never again. It tangles much worse than Nymo does when I use it.

One trick I learned early on -- in order to avoid splitting the thread when you pass back through, I cut the tips off my needles and file them smooth.

Same here. I use B for spiral ropes with no problems. I've also used D for spiral ropes. I much prefer B, though. Using D was a real pain in the ass at times.

B is my favorite size for beadweaving. I started out using 0, but had a lot of problems with it fraying, even with thread heaven.

-Amber.

=o) !! Good! I am glad you found it useful, MJ!

Beki