Designer Threads | ||
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Sandy Richards, Head Shepherdess
Sandy uses Designer Threads (fibers that are more often used in needlepoint than counted cross-stitch) and TV Fabrics (fabrics with small counts and large holes so that you can stitch while watching TV and not miss a beat) to make up special kits for Ruth Sparrow of Twisted Threads as well as other design companies. =============== Fantastic Fiber Facts ALPACA 18 - 100% fine alpaca. Strong and will not fray. When brushed comes alive. Can be combined with Whisper, Great for all animals and hair. 18 colors. - animal and wood tones - Made in Peru. - 12 yd. card - Rainbow Gallery. ANGORA - 100% angora. Strong but will break if pulled to hard. Makes great hair and super French & Colonial knots, can even be braided. Brushable. 22 colors - Made in France - 7 yd. card - Rainbow Gallery. Tends to tickle your nose when you stitch. ARCTIC RAYS - 100% nylon. A wispy fringe with a chain center. Can be brushed to make whispies come to the front. Trick to using - when stitching don't pull on just the needle, pull thread and needle together. 7 colors - Made in Italy - 8 yd. card - Rainbow Gallery. BACKGROUNDS - SILK & CREAM - 50% silk, 50%wool. Made in Switzerland. A strong. soft luxurious thread. Great for larger count fabric. Has a nice sheen when stitched. 20 yd. card - 12 colors - Rainbow Gallery - Several other textures available. BRAVO, ENCORE & OVERATURE - all 100% space dyed cottons. Made in the USA. Bravo is 4 ply - slightly larger than 1 strand of floss - 33 colors - 25 yd. card. Encore is also 4 ply - the size of #8 Perle cotton - 64 colors - 10 yd. card. Overature - 4 ply - equal to #5 Perle cotton - 93 colors - 10 yd. card. I call these the baby, mama and papa space dyed family - Rainbow Gallery CHARLESTON - 100% polyamide with a chain center - no core. Another fabulous frizzy but a bit thicker core than Arctic Rays. 37 Fantastic HAND DYED colors (Prohibition Purple, Electric Chair Violet) - 8 yds. per skein - Needle Necessities. CORONET BRAID #4 - 65% rayon, 35% metallized polyester. Replaces La Lame 1 1/4 and Christopher 2. Made in England. 10 yds. per card - 7 colors. Also available in #8 and #16. Use Fray Stop on all cut ends - Rainbow Gallery. CRESTA d' ORO - 50% Cupro, 41% Metallized Polyester, 9% Polyester. Easier to use than Braids because it is very soft. Chainette construction. Twist and break fiber rather than cutting it. Unravels so use Fray Stop on ends. Made in Italy - 15 yd. card - 27 colors Rainbow Gallery. DESIGNERS DREAM - 100% worsted wool. 4 ply with matte finish. Use a 16 to 18Ó length to stitch with. Can be brushed for a soft, plump look. 63 colors - 30 yd card - Rainbow Gallery. ELEGANCE - NEW 100% silk thread. Alternative to #8 Perle cotton. Colors are the same color numbers as Splendor - approximately 16 colors available now. More to come. Very soft to stitch with - Rainbow Gallery. FAUX FUR - 85% Acrylic, 15% wool. Super furry effect when brushed. Great for turkey stitches. Use shorter lengths when stitching because it is fragile and pulls apart because it has no plys . Use a strand of Whisper or Designer Dream to strengthen it. Made in Italy - 20 yd. card - 17 colors - Rainbow Gallery. FIESTA - 100% Rayon. 6 ply, very soft with a high luster. When stitching keep an even tension. Use a Trolley Needle to lay this fiber. It is very friendly and likes to come back to meet you after every stitch. You may cut a 36Ó length, ply and double it to stitch because it has no grain - man made. After plying, dampen and its a breeze to stitch with. Use away knots. Made in Mexico - 12 yd. card - 50 colors (8 shaded) - Rainbow Gallery. FLAIR - 100% tubular, stretchable nylon. Great glimmer and shine. Cut fiber on a sharp angle, apply Fray Stop to cut ends and bury your needle before stitching. Use a Trolley Needle to lay and do not let it twist. Made in England - 10 yd. card - 66 colors - Rainbow Gallery. FROSTY RAYS - 50% nylon, 32% Viscose, 18% Polyester. Stretchable tubular nylon with a glitzy thread through the middle (like a stuffed olive!). Do not pull tightly when stitching. Follow Flair directions. You may take out the center glitzy and you have a Ò3 in 1Ó FIBER. Remember to lay with a Trolley Needle. Made in the USA - 5 yd. card - 120 colors - Rainbow Gallery FYRE WERKS - 55% Polyester, 45% Nylon. A fantastic, glitzy 1/16Ó metallic ribbon. Ends tend to fray, cut on sharp angle and use Fray Stop. Use an away knot and use a Trolley Needle to keep it flat No twists allowed. If you pull to tightly it will get thinner. Without Fray Stop you can frizz the ends to give a witch a really bad hair day. Multi Fyre Werks is 1/8Ó wide. Made in West Germany - 10 yd. card - 17 colors - Rainbow Gallery GOLD RUSH XS - 37% Metallized Polyester, 53% Viscose, 10% Nylon. Another Chainette thread so break instead of cutting - use Fray Stop on ends. Can sometimes be used instead of blending filament as it does not curl up, Stitch straight up and down. Can be dampened before stitching. Replaces Goldfingering. 3 other sizes: - Goldrush variegated, Goldrush 14 & 18. Made in England - 10 yd. card - 16 colors - Rainbow Gallery. MADRAS - NEW 100% cotton, overdyed fiber. Soft, pliable - a joy to stitch with. Very subtle color variations. Comes in skeins - Needle Necessities. MATTE 18 - 100% matte cotton . No problems with this fiber...just stitch. Made in Brazil and Belgium. 15 yd. card - 55 colors - Rainbow Gallery. NORDIC GOLD - 52% Metallized Polyester, 48% Nylon. A very fine, easy to use metallic. Use instead of Blending Filament or the new DMC Metallics. It is stronger and easier to control. Fray Stop the ends as it tends to fray. Made in England - 25 yd. card - 10 colors - Rainbow Gallery. OVERDYED COTTON ( aka floss overdyed) - 100% cotton, 6 ply hand dyed Anchor floss. Does not knot or fuzz when you stitch. 20 yd. skein - 100 colors - Needle Necessities. RAINBOW LINEN - 100% Linen. Super for doing pulled and drawn thread work Color coordinated to match 18 ct. mono canvas and 25 - 28 ct. linen. Run between your nail and thumb to soften before stitching. Made in Sweden - 20 yd. card - 69 colors - Rainbow Gallery. RAINBOW TWEED - 44% cotton, 39% wool, 17% Acrylic - 4 ply - stitch with 1 to 4 strands depending on fabric ct. Subtle variations give thread flecked look. Soft , easy to stitch with. Made in the USA - 20 yd. card - 50 colors - several variegated - Rainbow Gallery. SHADOWDYED VELOUR 18 - 100% nylon. Looks & feels like velvet. Soooo easy to stitch with. Subtle changes in color. 4 yd. pkg. - 24 colors - Needle Necessities. SHEEPÕS SILK - 50% silk, 50% wool. A fine thread, easy to stitch with, subtly overdyed. Can even use on linen. 25 yd. skein - 80 colors (approx,) - Thread Gatherer SILK 'n COLORS - exquisite 100% overdyed Silk. Beautiful sheen. This is the same silk as Splendor (see for further information). Separates into 3 bundles - each containing 4 strands - total 12 strands/ply - comes in a skein - 60 colors (approx.) - Thread Gatherer SPLENDOR- 100% silk. Beautiful sheen - Unusual construction - twist is tighter than most silks making it very easy to use. Will not snag on hands. Great for beginners. Separate 3 bundles/4 strands each. Can stitch with bundles, entire thread or single strand. Made in France - 8 yd. card - 124 colors - Rainbow Gallery. SUPER SUEDE - 50% Rayon, 25% cotton 24% Polyester. Looks and feels like Suede and is super STRONG. Dye lots vary so sell enough for entire project. Will not break even if you hang from the ceiling on it!!! Made in the USA - 5 yd. card - 15 colors - Rainbow Gallery TWEDIE 18 - 100% wool - colored flecks give tweed fabric look. Can be plied carefully for additional colors. Matte finish - Made in England - 15 yd. card - 42 colors - Rainbow Gallery. WISPER - 80% kid Mohair, 20% Nylon. Fabulous furry thread. Can stitch with 1, 2 or 3 ply, or combine with other furry fibers. Long fuzzies appear when brushed with Bunka brush - great for ewes, beards and other animals. Will wear where it is threaded through eye of needle. 20 yd. card - 34 colors - Rainbow Gallery There are lots more Designer Threads available to stitch with...Caron Collection, Weeks Dye Works, Sampler Threads from Gentle Arts...to name a few. Because I stitch and design on T.V. fabric (mostly overdyed 7 ct. Klostern & 9 ct. Tula from R & R) I prefer to use the threads I have discussed in class. It is up to you to select what makes your heart flutter, your fingers tingle to stitch, and your brain shift into high gear. Remember EXCITEMENT is contagious.....so make sure your customers catch it. Excitement is not curable or containable and it will add up to higher $$$$ sales. CATCH IT TODAY................. --------------- Helpful Hints for Fiber Fanatics 1. ALWAYS use a Muriel needle threader when using Designer Threads. 2. You will use size 18 - 20 - 22 for most of your stitching. 3. Stitch STRAIGHT up and down, keeps wearing of threads to a minimum. 4. Most dark colored threads are thinner (kept in the dye longer) 5. Never store threads in a completely sealed plastic bag - punch hold - they need to breath. 6. Always FLOWER your thread when you separate it. 7. NO thread is guaranteed 100% colorfast by any manufacturer. 8. HOT WATER & STEAM IRONS will reactivate some dyes and cause bleeding. 9. All DESIGNER THREADS should be treated with TLC =============== Note from Cameo: The following information was gleaned from a chat on America Online with Sandy Richards as our special guest. This "Chat by Design" was held in 1997. Sandy uses designer threads (as she calls them) from Rainbow Gallery, Gentle Art, Needle Necessities, Thread Gatherer, Fleur de Paris and other companies. She uses these threads to achieve different effects so that the finished piece will have a 3-D look. These threads are used often in Needlepoint designs, and are now becoming popular in cross-stitch designs. Remember to never wash or dry clean anything, fabric or fibers, that have been hand-dyed. No hand-dyed fiber can be guaranteed as colorfast. Be very careful when you stitch with them to keep your hands clean. Most designer threads are only available at your independent needlework shops. Concerning Wisper threads:
[2] They can be brushed with a Bunka after stitching to make them fuzzy. A Bunda is a little nap or prickley brush that picks up certain threads. Wisper is one of these threads. [3] Use Wisper in lengths of approx. 14 inches. Pull the thread straight up and straight down through your fabric to help keep it from weakening and fraying. If you hold your the thread at the eye of the needle and pull both thread and needle at the same time, you should not have much fraying. [4] Wisper can be combined with floss, Designer's Dream, Santa's Beard or Faux Fur to make it stronger. Concerning Alpaca 18:
[2] Sandy recommends always using a needle threader with this fiber.. The one she likes best ia by Muriel. This looks like a cigar band and has two circles on either end. She says it's not wise to lick these threads or you'll a mouth full of fuzz. ;D Concerning Faux Furis:
[2] Sandy uses it for Turkey Stitches. A Turkey Stitch is kind of a looped stitch that you cut and it looks great as fringe when brushed. Concerning Metallics:
Concerning other wools:
[2] If you have an allergy to wools, be careful when stitching with them. Many of Sandy's stitchers wear cotton gloves while stitching with100% wools. Concerning silks: [1] Sandy likes to use the silks by Rainbow Gallery for solid colors and Overdyed Silk from Thread Gatherer. These are good for beginners. Thread Gatherer and Rainbow Gallery use the same silk, but those from Thread Gatherer are overdyed. [2] These silks can be used on 7 ct., 10 ct. and even 32 ct. linen. [3] These fibers are separated, then put back together before stitching. [4] Designs by Just Nan have fibers from Thread Gatherer in the specialty patterns. --------------- Note from Cameo: There is a good article by LeAnn Bemis about playing with, searching for, and substituting specialty threads in the March, 1999 edition of The Stitchery Magazine (Now called Stitcher's World), page 56. 
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