DMC Floss now what???

You have to put a value on any package you send overseas. You wouldn't be proposing to perjure yourself, would you?

Elizabeth

Well I usually use the specialty thread the designer suggests, if I'm doing a design. I've gone the other way too, and have used specialty threads when dmc only was suggested, but not for xs. My conclusion was I should have stuck with dmc, as it was a learning piece and I needed to find out how to blend the threads easily. DMC is excellent in that it has such a wide range of colors, for which it is sometimes difficult to find the equivalent in silk. Dora

Is this what you're looking for? From

The Jewish calendar has the following months:

Month Length Gregorian Equivalent Nissan 30 days March-April Iyar 29 days April-May Sivan 30 days May-June Tammuz 29 days June-July Av 30 days July-August Elul 29 days August-September Tishri 30 days September-October Heshvan 29 or 30 days October-November Kislev 30 or 29 days November-December Tevet 29 days December-January Shevat 30 days January-February Adar 29 or 30 days February-March Adar II 29 days March-April

In leap years, Adar has 30 days. In non-leap years, Adar has 29 days.

ian Equivalent

That's exactly what I was looking for, Anne. Thanks!

Louisa

"anne" wrote

I tend to switch threads quite often, and have used DMC for specialty and specialty for DMC. I do find some of the projects in American magazines feel as if the designer has been commissioned to use as many fancy threads as possible, sometimes only for a few stitches, as well as beads, charms and whatnot, and the cost, and trouble of kitting up becomes prohibitives. FWIW I find British magazines less likely to do this. So I might use the specialty thread for large areas where it really shows, and something else for the bits. And sometimes it depends on the thread--if the colour variation on a hand-dyed is quite dramatic, it quite changes things to use a plain thread. I tend to do what I like to get the effect that will make me happy.

I love shops that kit up threadkits with just the amount of specialty thread needed--but don't find that too often now. Dawne

Oh, good. It's not just me!

There's one I recently fell in love with where I swear every one of the

Nope. I know which postal clerks are a little sloppy about checking the customs forms and won't notice that I haven't put a value on it.

And then there's the anal twit who expected me to know exactly how many pieces of candy I had put in the box and suggested I could take it home, dump it out, count it, repack it, and come back when I could put a precise number on there and not just an estimate. Considering that this was going through the US Army Postal Service, not being handled by a foreign country, I couldn't understand why I needed a customs form at all, much less why anyone would concern themselves with counting every last hard candy, since there was obviously no duty to be paid on a gift being sent from America to an American soldier.

Interesting position to take. I tend to kind of agree. There are certainly other cotton flosses out there, though DMC is the least expensive since it's available at large craft stores. One of our regular customers was discussing this with me the other day - that what would she do, she has all this DMC. My response was, you use what you have, and as you continue stitching projects, fill in with Anchor or Presencia - as things continue. Certainly there is no reason not to mix DMC and Anchor in a project - I do it, I'm sure many of us do. I imagine that it's a mental thing - some folks really do prefer, even it seems need, to follow exactly what the designer has listed ona project. For them, switching sometimes seems painful.

OTOH, the most fun we have in the shop is helping someone "do the colors" for a chart - from simply finding a substitute for a missing particular thread, to totally changing things to suit their preferences, or a material they want to use. When I swap colors for someone, I write the new things on their chart key, and also, when time allows, with switching overdyes around, will actually write on the tag what say "Sassy Brass" is in place of "Terra Cotta" . We don't want to make things toooo confusing.

We (shop owner & I, and most of our regulars) encourage people to be a little bold, but OTOH, I understand that stitching is supposed to be enjoyable, and some people really need to follow a precise map, and are not comfortable changing. That said, when a couple of us say "that looks really nice" to a change, or "the color works better, or pops" - that is often enough to help that person step outside the boundary and try something different.

We got these adorable charts from Tom & Lily - French company. Very cute, whimsical, bright, with info being a French overdye (samples stitched in) and DMC and Anchor. Unfortunately, the DMC & Anchor seem to be totally different than the pieces look. This is a warning if anyone else has gotten these charts _ they are irresistable and not large. So, we translated the names of the overdye, and for people buying them, it's been fun just picking colors that look good, from all the overdyes - then writing a list for them (and I confess, I also did a copy of the chart to use as a map, putting the colors with arrows on them). Took some time, but I think my speed at doing this is improving.

Well, must go have late breakfast and go to work. Finally - a nice day here

- DC has gone from Winter to summer to winter to 1 day of spring to winter to summer again!

Ellice

Most of the time use specialty threads - but I may change the color, or try a different thread. That said, I'm pretty adventurous, and have the advantage of being in a shop. If we're just talking overdyes, almost always use them. If other things - I may switch to something to get the same effect, but a different thread that I prefer working with (as in avoiding certain rayons, might try a silk, or for fuzzy things might use kit=kin vs wisper )

Part 2 of answer - I'll mix and match. And for the budget conscious I'll suggest to look at the design, and pick the places where an overdye or special thread will really add or make a difference, vs some places where it's inconsequential. So, I may use an overdye for the shingles on a roof, or the stone/brick façade, but not for the window sashes or a door. I think you have to balance the beauty, effect with your budget - so pick the places where the specialty thread adds that depth to the finished piece, and then use plain floss elsewhere.

Also, I'm a big believer in pulling the threads (both) and then picking fabric to see what works well. Sometimes, you then just swap a color or two.

Lastly - the unasked question but I'm tossing in some info. A lot of the overdyed cottons vary GREATLY from batch to batch. I won't even say it's a dye lot difference - much greater than that. Some brands will vary so much that a new batch will look like it should be a totally different color. So, that means what the designer may have used may look completely different - in which case IMHO it's good to have an open mind, and try to match the look of what the original had, rather than the specific overdye. Which means trying a different brand, color, etc. IME, the most consistent is likely WDW, GAST is next - the worst is Crescent & Carrie's. I love Crescent, & love the colors (very brilliant) of Carrie's. But the big warning is when you buy them, be sure that you have enough for your project, from the same batch that look similar. If they're slightly off, you can work from 2 skeins - stitch from one, then stitch from the other, it'll blend so you won't notice a difference (taught to do this in knitting with some hand-dyed wool). But, if it's a big deal, then....

Good question. Ellice

But, you do build up your stash with those skeins as you use bits and keep them. Also, in OZ you do have the lovely Dinky Dyes, which are not expensive for overdyed silk here ($4), and some other great threads.

I don't know, Trish. Some of us become silk addicts - I'll do some things in silk - even just XS, and some the design just doesn't call for it. But, I do see some difference in a lot of the sampler type things I do. That said, recently I was working on a Cricket Collection baby thing, started in silk, ripped it out and switched to cotton. Go figure - but the effect was definitely not worth it and I honestly didn't like the way the silk looked.

ellice

Yep. A not-very-adventurous friend practically had a meltdown because the chart called for Antique White and all she could find at WalMart was regular White.

She was always impressed when I did something creative, swapping floss or fabrics, but this was always tainted with trepidation that the Cross Stitch Police were going to haul me away for not doing exactly what the designer called for.

Dawne Peterson wrote: I do find some of the projects in American magazines

I agree. The current JCS has a "New Orleans Sampler" from Victorian Sampler that's quite nice, but calls for a trumpet gewgaw. I'm not into charms at all, so I'm debating whether to try to chart my own instrument, or just leave it off. That person might be seen as dancing along with the musicians.

(Of course, I won't get to this chart for some time yet, and by then the little trumpet charm will undoubtedly not be available, even if I wanted it!)

Sue

I think it's hard to do that, and time consuming. In both shops I've worked in we've tried doing some little kits - where it may be a small chart or original design, or a freebie that we're allowed to kit, and it takes time to sit and cut the threads, package, etc. In doing it for larger commercial charts - again, unless it's been stitched - it's not that easy to do the stitch count convert to thread and kit. Plus the other factor being how different people stitch - moving around the pattern, mistakes, and 2 or

Anyhow, when I do a class with a desing I've sittched - I'll make notes, and then the students get a kit which may be some entire skeins, and several stitching lengths as appropriate.

What we do in the shop is offer a 10% "Kit Discount" if you buy a chart, fabric and threads/buttons/ etc at the same time - whatever is needed to stitch the chart. And, especially with the overdyes, since we encourage folks to be sure they have enough, if they buy an extra skein, and it hasn't been broken open - we'll do a store credit. For things like Victoria Sampler, we always get the accessory packs - that way people that don't have a silk stash can just get what they need, with the beads, etc. They're not cheap, but are less of an outlay than buying all the skeins of silk.

Ellice

I have to chime in here and say that most of this discussion is only of (slight) academic interest to me. You see, I wouldn't dream of doing counted cross stitch, all my work is strictly surface work, and the way I select colors is purely by eye. At this point in my life, I have collected a fair amount of floss - one Christmas gift cookie tin full, actually - all sorted into little plastic bags by color and fiber. Likewise, I have two similar tins of needlepoint and crewel yarns, divided by wool and acrylics (most of which latter came from estate sales in misc. lots). When I start a new project, I get out the fabric and threads, look things over, decide what I think would look good, loop the relevant threads onto one of my thread pallettes and get started. I wouldn't DREAM of having every color of ANYTHING.

Similarly, I have a fair-sized collection of sewing thead built up over the years, and can generally match almost any fabric out of my stash. Nowadays I never buy thread to match a fabric until after I have checked to see if I already have some. The only exception is that every time I go into the fabric store I buy more white cotton thread, as I seem to use up a lot of that.

Olwyn Mary in New Orleans.

I like stitching with sampler threads and usually try to get the ones I need for a project. Mostly I enjoy cross stitching with Anchor and/or DMC. I prefer Anchor but don't mind DMC.

I have not stitched with many of the fancy silks and the like. I have used the floss c>bungadora says...

Do you find that as you're working that a color you thought would be perfect just doesn't work with the rest? Maybe it's my ignorance of color management or not so good eye for detail but it seems like fiber and bead colors quite often change when placed next to each other.

It does happen on rare occasions, but not often. As I hold the colors together in the skein when choosing, it has been known to happen that if I have two fine lines together, they simply are not strong enough against each other to show up. Is this the kind of thing you were referring to?

Olwyn Mary in New Orleans

I will use the specialty 80% of the time. I have wished I'd used the DMC equivalent for some of them or just picked one or two of the specialty flosses because the colors seemed to fight each other - at least to my eye.

You are right Anne, the Color of threads Affect each other or are affected by their `neigbour` thread. It is even more felt in weaving , The way you see a color is also affected bt the way the thread meets light , if it is horizintal , or vertical. mirjam