DMC Satin Threads?

It may be the Coats & Clark brand I'm thinking of. When I stop to think about, that factory and outlet were turned into lofts about (gulp) fifteen years ago, and they had shut down a couple of years before that. Good grief, has it been that long? Oh well...

Louisa

Ah, my favorite thread debate. As I jump in from my lurkdom of most of the past few months. Hope all on RCTN are doing well - as I catch up my post-reading.

Anchor is also my preferred cotton floss. IME, it seems to have slightly better coverage, and I like the feel better than DMC. Rarely do I have knotting/kinking problems with it. Over the years that I've worked in LNS, I've sort of blind-tested with some overdyes - finding I liked certain ones better in terms of working with them, coverage and feel. It's funnily enough turned out that those overdyes were actually done on Anchor.

That said, I use whichever has the suitable color - and mix them accordingly. For the most part, my personal stock is Anchor. I believe that what is sold on either side of the Atlantic is the same for both Anchor & DMC (though packaging might differ). In the shop, we've noticed a lot of the European stuff we carry (our Eurostash area) tends to contain Anchor in any kits, but the charts tend to mostly list Anchor, with the French ones listing DMC first. Go figure.

The DMC satin is likely being marketed as an inexpenisve alternative to silk

- sheen but will feel stiffer. We'll probably get it in - we have all the light effects, etc. Rayon is still a pain in the whatever. But, if you have to use it, I'd get the Rainbow Gallery Panache - which is a twisted rayon and not too awful to work with.

Ellice in Northern Virginia

Originally WDW used Anchor as their base. I'm not sure if they've had some changes since - recently we've noticed their threads, especially the darker ones, being thinner. Which is something that can happen as the threads react during the dyeing process. But this is a conversation my boss (the LNS owner) and I have been thinking about having with them (WDW). Needle Necessities and now Threadworx (which I like so far - I'm teaching an Orna Willis piece that uses 4 skeins of it along with 13 other threads) dye on Anchor. I believe that Gentle Arts dyes on DMC, Carrie's Creations dyes on DMC. And, finally, I believe that Crescent dyes on Anchor. That said - I could be wrong (though I'm certain about ThreadWorx).

I really like the coverage with Crescent (dye lot changes are another story)

- so that goes with my Anchor observations.

Anchor is manufactured in Germany, DMC in France. While spinning thread is spinning thread, who knows what differences in their "proprietary" processes really are there, and where/when they bought their cotton.

Occasionally I see the Coats & Clark "cheaper" floss at a craft store. But the Anchor which LNS' carry is the higher quality stuff.

OK - I can remember getting floss at the drugstore - but not a gas station. That's a picture.

Ellice

Let's see. That would be a lottery ticket, a pack of condoms, Malboros, and two skeins of DMC 932...Do you have an I.D. for that?

Donna in Virginia

Oh, I'm glad I put my tea down! What an image!

Louisa