Organize Your Embroidery Floss (first Steps)

 Embroidery floss comes packaged in little skeins confined by brand and number bands. These come off, so you lose the information, and if you are trying to make a pattern or merely maintain your inventory, it’s irritating to try to keep band and skein together. And the skein is prone to tangle.

There are various cardboard or plastic bobbin schemes available, but the using bobbins results in folds every inch or so on the floss, and I don't like them. The plastic DMC bows are ugly and expensive. 

For this methods, you need some rings or paper clips, and scissors, and a few safety pins.

In a kitten-free location, remove bands from ONE skein at a time. Clip the number portion of the band and slip it onto your ring.

I find the best thing to do is to rewind the skein. Wrap the skein around a large book or other object (make sure you’ll be able to get the loop off) about half the length of the strands you decide to cut. Cut the floss into roughly 18” (45 cm) lengths.
You don’t have to cut the skein into lengths, but it makes it easier to take a portion of floss off without discombobulating your whole clip-full. 

Don't make them too short; you'll have to rethread the needle, and it will interrupt your creative flow. 

and loop them onto a ring (these are strong, a good size, and not too expensive)
or a paper clip. I like this shape but paper clips come in many colors and styles and you may want to color-code, or use cute ones. You want them to be rust- and tarnish-proof.

Put the uncut end of your loop through the ring or the clip, and put the ends through the loop, making a larkshead knot . Now your color number is secured with the floss, and you can use the floss without its becoming hopelessly tangled. Sometimes you can even pull a single strand off by itself, and you can put any leftover on easily.

For a small, reasonable number of colors, you can put the rings together with a larger ring or a safety pin. Or you can group your colors and pin several groups to a piece of fabric. You can also make a group for an individual project, and return the skeins to your central flossery when the project is done. Or you can take a portion of the colors you want and make a project skein, or make a group of all the greens you like (if you do a lot of trees or zombies) or pinks (if you do a lot of unicorns or cotton candy).

You can stick tiny labels onto unused portion of the skein bands and onto a second ring, if you want to have a color available in two different places. 




Don't they look calm, accessible, and inspiring? Sew something!