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1. 

   Andrea Thompson
   Moderator

   Just when I thought I'd be concentrating on my current cross stitch project (a yellow Rose in close up) I noticed a really pretty heart shaped piece of needlework in a magazine using really vibrant colours. I have a friend getting married next year so decided that was a perfect excuse to use this pattern and make a wedding sampler.

   The colours it uses are DMC Satin threads, rather than normal stranded cotton. I found a website which stocked them and they arrived yesterday. Just opening the package at work (I got them delivered to work) had me just itching to start. The colours are just so bright and almost sparkly.

   Too busy last night to get anything begun and I need to plan the sampler properly before I can really start. Has anyone sewn with Satin threads before? I hope they are easy to use...

   Posted 14 years ago #
2. 

   Christine Berrett
   Administrator

   Ooo Andrea, that sounds exciting! I've never even heard of satin threads, let alone used them. Be sure to let us know how you get on.

   Good luck!

   Posted 14 years ago #
3. 

   Andrea Thompson
   Moderator

   Christine, if you are going to Bradford I'll bring them with me and show you just how sparkly they are :-) By then I should have actually started the heart.

   Posted 14 years ago #
4. 

   Barbara Stone
   Member

   Andrea, I got given some Satin threads a while ago, and like you I thought they were lovely and really sparkly. However, I did find them rather difficult to use, so basically being a coward, I gave up. If you have better luck with them than I did, please let me know how you did it, so I could start again. Good luck with your heart!

   Posted 14 years ago #
5. 

   Andrea Thompson
   Moderator

   Oh Barbara I think I understand what you mean...
   I haven't properly started stitching it yet but I took the threads out of their packet andwound them round a bobbin (I think that's what they are called) ready to start using. They feel so silky and nice but won't grip! Think this is going to be an interesting project...

   Posted 14 years ago #
6. 

   Barbara Stone
   Member

   I got given loads of the darn things - they're too nice to get rid of, but if I can't use them, they're going to be taking up space I don't have. Oh well, when I come back from holiday, I'll have to start practicing with them again. Failing that, one of the lovely people out there in "forum" land, might have some good ideas how to use them. If anybody could help, I know I'd be grateful. Thanks in advance.

   Posted 14 years ago #
7. 

   brenda midgley
   Member

   I've been reading the comments on the Satin Threads issue with interest as I have never come across them. I must say now that if I found a kit which uses them I would treat it very warily as they sound a bit tricky.

   I do hope you will still bring them with you to Bradford Andrea as I'm most curious to see what they look like.

   Unusual threads can sometimes bring a bit of heartache with them. I can recall stitching something that used Pearsalls Silks and I must say, although I finished the work and it looked nice, I don't think I would want to use those threads again as they were quite springy and uncontrollable. I much prefer the Stef Francis Silks that Jane introduced us to.

   Good luck with the Heart anyway - I'm sure your friend will really appreciate it when she gets it. Brenda

   Posted 14 years ago #
8. 

   Barbara Stone
   Member

   Brenda I do totally agree with you about using different types of threads. I too, prefer using the Stef Francis silks, but don't refrain from buying a kit thats got satin threads in, just because a couple of us have problems using them. You never know, we might get a reply from somebody who tells us exactly how to use them, and we'll all use them in preference to anything else (okay, so pigs might fly as well, but you never know.) God luck Andrea, and if you find out how to use them, can you let me know as well. Thanks.

   Posted 14 years ago #
9. 

   brenda midgley
   Member

   Actually Barbara - you are right - I am being really negative aren't I. I'm feeling a bit grumpy today (so what's new I can almost hear my husband thinking). I'm trying to get a stitching project together to take on holiday - we're off to Germany next Tuesday - and although I've found a project I like it's all in Anchor shades (and I have nearly all the range of DMC). I've started stitching just a little of it so I'm 'up and running' as it were for next Tuesday but needed a DMC thread I hadn't got. To keep the story short the shade differences between Anchor and DMC are quite marked and it just doesn't look right (mainly pink range shades) so I took out what bit of 'pink' stitching I've done and went to our local market stall this morning to buy all the Anchor pinks I needed (she doesn't sell DMC anyway) but she is out of stock of one of the pinks. Grrrr. frustration. This little scenario has been going on all over the weekend so I really am in a negative frame of mind.

   I must, therefore, thank you for making me aware of it. I realise now I must pull myself up and get back into thinking positively! Brenda

   Posted 14 years ago #
10. 

    Barbara Stone
    Member

    Which one are you missing? I have quite a few Anchor, which a friend gave me, and I might be able to help. I do know the problem, I too had to get different pinks in Anchor instead of DMC, before actually getting the DMC one, and the difference is so noticeable. Actually, we both have the same problem. I'm trying to get stuff together for our holiday in New Zealand, but the project I wanted to take with me is Jane's Flower Sampler book, and I've done nearly all of the first bit as it is. I've got to find something else to keep my hands busy, because if I don't, I'll have nothing to do on two 12 hour flights - one to Singapore and one to Auckland, and six weeks later, the same thing in reverse. Let me know which one you're missing, and I'll see if I've got it. If not, have a nice holiday.

    Posted 14 years ago #
11. 

    Christine Berrett
    Administrator

    Andrea, have you thought about trying Thread Heaven? Dunno if it would work, but it might be worth giving it a go?

    Posted 14 years ago #
12. 

    brenda midgley
    Member

    Oh Barbara - how nice of you. I'm missing Anchor 76. The lady in the market had 75 and 77 - one was a pink-pink shade and the other was a pink-lavender shade so it's going to be somewhere between the two I guess. The DMC one which was supposed to be its equivalent came out on a website as 3836 (a definite mauve which didn't look at all right with the rest of the DMC equivalents - which is why I decided it better to go and get all the Anchor pinks. Since then I've found an Anchor list which says the DMC equivalent is (nearly) 951 and the Madeira list showing Anchor 76 says the DMC equivalent is 3688! Perhaps you can get a sense now of my frustration. Sorry to be so boring.

    Anyhow, all is not lost. This coming weekend Geoff and I are at the Severn Valley Railway in Bridgnorth as we are rostered to work on the Sunday lunchtime train so on Saturday I intend walking up to the town, which houses a delightful stitchy shop - Quilters Quest. The lovely lady in there is always so helpful and has both Anchor and DMC shades - fingers crossed then I shall be able to finally sort myself out.

    It is, however, so lovely of you to have offered to look through your threads for it. Thank you for that.

    Once I've got the threads in my hand and can compare all the Anchor ones against all the DMC ones, I shall very likely go for the DMC. The Anchor pinks making a tiny flower are 10 and 1006,(quite vibrant) whereas the DMC equivalent shades are 221 and 223. If you have them all they are vastly different in colour, but the DMC are softer, more muted looking, which I prefer.

    God, I've gone on a bit here today - you are probably all nodding off nicely by now thinking 'when is that girl going to SHUT UP!!' - I am, right now....... Brenda

    Posted 14 years ago #
13. 

    Christine Berrett
    Administrator

    Brenda, just had a look in my stash, but I'm afraid I have nothing even close to Anchor 76. Good luck with finding it at Quilters Quest (sounds like a lovely shop!).

    Christine

    Posted 14 years ago #
14. 

    Barbara Stone
    Member

    After all that, I haven't got it either, really sorry but I did have a look. I started sewing a design I bought in Germany, and thought I'd got all the right threads, but of course, I had one missing, so bought the Anchor equivalent, and it looked totally wrong. I learnt my lesson on that one. Hope you manage to get the right one this weekend, and enjoy stitching your design. I envy you with the railway this weekend. Unfortunately, I've got to spend all weekend cooking for a family reunion, and not even in my own kitchen at that. Have fun.

    Posted 14 years ago #
15. 

    brenda midgley
    Member

    Thank you Christine and Barbara for checking your threads. As I say - hopefully I shall get sorted out on Saturday.

    Don't you find, however, that it is so sad that stitchy shops, when you have them, do not seem to last long. I know I shall be paying top price in Quilters Quest but when it's only for one or two colours I don't begrudge it as these shops really need our support to keep going. We've had shops in both Crewe and Nantwich in the past but they never survive - the lady in the market with her Anchor range is quite unique really. My nearest place after that is about 11 miles away - a Hobbycraft in a local garden centre (it has to be said though it makes a lovely day out as both gardening and stitching are my hobbies and with somewhere that does lovely lunches at the same time puts it as a top venue in my list!)

    Hope all goes well with the weekend cooking Barbara. Now that is definitely NOT one of my hobbies! - me and kitchens do what is necessary and that's it - if you want anything more extravagant you are best going visiting someone else!

    I know I shall be seeing you at Bradford in November Christine - I am looking forward to that so much. I'm meeting up with Beryl Hampson and Andrea at Manchester Piccadilly and then we travel on from Manchester Victoria station - I shall feel as if the weekend has started before I even get there.

    In the meantime I'm hastily packing for Germany - want to get the bulk of it done before we toddle off to the railway tonight; we come home Sunday night so I shall only have Monday for final stuff. I just hope somebody has warned Germany that I'm coming. If the stitching stuff gets sorted in time I shall be no trouble at all. It has to be said though - I am questioning my own sanity - stitching on a train - on 32 count! Brenda

    Posted 14 years ago #
16. 

    00560910
    Member

    Satin threads are slippery little blighters but the colours are gorgeous and the finish is worth the effort, I'm going to try some soon, just as soon as I've tried the DMC linen threads

    Posted 14 years ago #
17. 

    Barbara Stone
    Member

    I can't remember the weekend in great detail - it passed in a blur of cooking, talking and trying to sleep in a sleeping bag on a floor - not the most comfortable of places to have a kip!! It was a good weekend though, and I met relatives I haven't seen for years and had a great gossip with them. I might also have persuaded somebody to join the guild - my cousin has just started in the craft and as she lives in Canada, she wants to keep in touch, so you never know, I might have made a convert!! Have a really good holiday, and don't worry, 32 count on a train is a doddle!

    Posted 14 years ago #
18. 

    Andrea Thompson
    Moderator

    Satin Threads - Progress Update.

    Well I've started. And they are slippy blighters. But the overall effect has been good. Alas the design I picked had a section with about 25 french knots in it. Doing French knots with Satin threads has been an experience! At least their lack of grippingness (new word) makes them a lot easier to undo when it goes horribly wrong. I'm now past the field of French knots onto the cross stitch and satin stitch... back on safe ground :-)

    Posted 14 years ago #
19. 

    Christine Berrett
    Administrator

    Sounds like you got it licked, Andrea - go girl!

    Posted 14 years ago #
20. 

    Barbara Stone
    Member

    I really want to see this masterpiece when its finished. Are you going to be bringing it to Janes Christmas thing, or aren't you going to be at it? If not, take photos and send them to me when you're finished please. Keep on stitching!

    Posted 14 years ago #

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