What do you do with your working threads when you're stitching?
In other words...let's say you're stitching with DMC221 and the chart calls for two strands. So you pull a nice long length out of the skein and then strip out the two ply that you need.
What do you do with the remaining length of six strands?
And then, after you've stitched the few stitches of that color and snipped off, what do you do with the leftover that is still long enough to do another area?
I'm using FlossAway bags for my Prairie Moon project, but am stumped over what to do with all of the working threads.
Thanks for your advice and expertise!
I stick them back in the bags, or half hitch them onto the skein, or rewrap them onto the bobbin, depending on what system I’m using for the thread. I’m really frugal with my thread. No point in discarding thread if I can still stitch with it.
ReplyDeleteI put it all back into the bag - anything that is long enough to do something with
ReplyDeleteI use floss away bags on a ring for my working piece. Anything that can be used stays in that bag. Then I have a “master floss away already used “ big ring where it goes for leftovers. I am a floss nerd so it’s alpha order by company when it hits the monster ring. When a chart calls for a particular color I go to that big ring first to use up what I have and will start a new floss.
ReplyDeleteI use floss away bags for all my floss. Anything that's long enough to reuse goes back in the bag. Anything I'm not using goes back in the bag. It works for me. :-)
ReplyDeleteI just wrap the cut or separated threads around two fingers into a neat circle and set them aside inside of putting back on the card.
ReplyDeleteI use cardboard thread drops to store threads for the project that I am working on. I half-hitch the remaining strands back through the relevant drop, and I do the same with leftover lengths that are still long enough to do something with. As my current project includes an enormous amount of confetti stitching, I keep even quite short leftover lengths, as I can use them for single stitches in that colour.
ReplyDeleteMegan
Sydney, Australia
Floss a way bags do my head in as they slide about everywhere when you have multiple colours and I do not like using a metal ring to hold them. I keep my DMC or other threads in a smallish, pretty cardboard box and when I cut a piece of thread I just wind the remaining piece round the skein till I need another length. It works fine because the threads are neatly held in a box. I have to confess that I throw away lengths once I've stitched and cut as I think the thread loses something once it's been pulled through fabric repeatedly.
ReplyDeleteI keep all my DMC's in little plastic bags and put the left over threads straight back in the bag which I usually have in a little carrier by the side of me.
ReplyDeleteI use Floss Away bags. All the little threads go into the bag. Well, except the obviously too short to use ones.
ReplyDeleteI also Floss away bags and I stick them back in the bags. That's why I use the bags and not the bobbins.
ReplyDeleteI try really hard to stitch long enough to use all the strands of a separated thread! When that doesn't work, like most of the others posting, I wrap what's remaining around the card. For longish leftovers, rather than start them in a new area, I put them in a small ziplock until I know I won't run out of the color/lot number - - then out they go.
ReplyDeleteMine are everywhere! No system...arm of chair, adjacent table, maybe wound back on thread card if I'm feeling organized. Usually just loose in the project bag.
ReplyDeleteIf I were using the bags, I would put the leftovers in the bag. I use bobbins for my DMC and I wrap the leftovers around the bobbin. I do use floss bags for the overdyes, so the leftovers go back in the bag.
ReplyDeleteI put the leftovers in the bag. That is why I use floss away bags. Keeps everything nice and neat with no reason to use bobbins which I hate. I keep my bags on rings to keep them in place.
ReplyDeletei don't like the shape of Floss Away bags (or the price) so i use ziploc snack bags - the skein fits without any folding, and little bits or separated strands go right back in ... i used to wrap bits around the skein papers, but the floss tends to kink like someone gave it a perm
ReplyDeleteI usually have a small compartmentalized plastic box for the project that houses the thread, scissors etc. I wrap mine back around the floss card. Smaller pieces (but too big to toss and can be used elsewhere in the project) are in a small compartment in the box.
ReplyDeleteIt depends on the size of the project and how long until I need that color again. If I'm going to use it for the same project again later in another area, I'll either put it on a thread keeper for the project or tuck it into the label on the skein. If I'm not going to need it again for a long time or I'm done with that color for the particular project, I'll wrap the leftover around the skein and then tuck it all away in the project bag until I've finished the whole project, and then leftovers get rotated to other projects or put into floss storage in the stash cabinet.
ReplyDeleteIf the project is from a kit I'll use a half hitch and put it back on in its' thread keeper in its' rightful place. If it's my own design or from a book or chart I'll make a thread keeper of my own with the codes drawn in. By the way, I drink Salada tea and the box comes with nice glossy white strips for dividers and I use these for mini thread keepers among other crafty things.
ReplyDeleteWell, I used to bobbin my thread, but now I just wrap any leftovers around the skein. It's a mess, but I've heard that's a sign of creative genius...hahahaha.
ReplyDeleteI use a Bitzy Bob that is draped over the arm of my stitch chair
ReplyDeleteI use those cardboard bobbins. I wind the extra cut thread around the bobbin perpendicularly to the full 6 strand which is wrapped around in the normal way. Hope that makes sense?
ReplyDeleteI use the cards (or bobbins as some call them) and just wind the threads right back on until the next time I need that color.
ReplyDeleteI wrap the leftovers on the bobbin vertically so when I come back to that colour whenever, I know this is a partly used thread.
ReplyDeleteMy floss is on bobbins, in the Floss Away bags, on the original cards (WDW and GAST), skeined....in runs the gamut. So, if I'm working with many threads, I use my cheap version of a Pako organizer. I have a long, skinny piece of some styrofoam-like material. I have a photocopy of the key with numbers/symbols, and that is pinned onto the styrofoam strip with the threaded needles (i.e. needle threaded with DMC 310 is stuck through the paper list that shows 310 and into the styrofoam). If the next time I need the 310, I guess that the floss in that needle won't be enough or too much, I thread up another needle. I usually only have 2 needles near the corresponding spot on the paper at a time. Clear as mud?
ReplyDeleteMany years again I stitched a Dimensions kit that came with pre-sorted threads on a cardboard card. Ever since, I've made my own thread cards for each project. I save scraps from packaging of that nice white cardboard, and for each project I get a piece and use a hole puncher to punch holes for each colour. I write the colour numbers next to them. Then I hitch the threads in the hole as I'm stitching, both off the skein and leftovers. After I'm finished, I put the card in with the pattern information for future reference. If there's a lot of unusued thread, I loop them in the hole on the top of my floss bobbins. Hope this helps �� It's a stitchy question that intrigues me too, and I love hearing about how other stitchers tackle it!
ReplyDeleteI just put all my working threads back in the Floss-Away bag (with needle still attached) and then just pull it out for the next use.
ReplyDeleteOR if I'm working with more than 10+ floss colors, I use this:
https://www.123stitch.com/item/Pako-Needle-Organizer/PAKO-700&picture=0
It allows for many colors, the foam holding the needles is very dense and holds the needles securely, the color 'cards' are easily replaceable and can be slid in/out when a project is finished, and for traveling, I slide the entire organizer into a gallon-sized Zip-loc bag and head out the door. Haven't had any mishaps with flosses coming out of the needles nor any needles falling out of the foam. With each change of color, I load up 5 or 6 needles with that color, and can stitch for hours without having to load more floss. The balance of each skein is stored in Floss-Away bags on a notebook ring in numerical or alphabetical order.
...and yes, I have a huge stock of my favorite needles: John James 028 Chenille needles in 25-pc envelopes. I use them for everything, including beading.
I use multiple needles - I keep it on the needle if not too many colors in the design. Saves rethreading each time.
ReplyDeleteI just wrap them back on the bobbin or around the skein or whatever I have on the go but maybe you would like one of these: https://www.amazon.com/Pako-Needle-Organizer-2-1-2-Inch/dp/B002UP67K0
ReplyDelete