Most stitchers keep spare threads in their workboxes. With the best of intentions, these can end up in an untidy heap if action is not taken to organise them well. The most frustrating thing can be the loss of the label which holds the correct colour code, leaving you to detect the correct colour against other threads. This can be very frustrating and can lead to mistaken identities.
There are several ways to store and organise your threads so that they can be easily found and identified.
DMC Gold Concept
This is based on the use of stitchbows, which are plastic wands, about the size of looped skeins. To load each stitchbow, you hook one end of the skein onto the top of the bow. Pull the label off in a downward direction. Catch the bottom of the skein onto the bow and slip the paper label with the colour number on it onto the holder. The bows are stored in a box that holds 50 of these stitchbows You can even a buy a ring binder that stores stitchbows neatly.
Madeira Thread
This is an increasingly popular brand of thread. Madeira do not use skeins, but 10 metre spiral packs. The advantage of this package is that the thread is protected from dust and does not tangle as you unwind it. You can either store these in trays, as they can lie flat, or use a ring similar to a large key ring.
Bobbin Boxes
It is time consuming to rewind thread onto a cardboard or plastic bobbin, but the payback is that you will have a neat and easily accessible collection of threads in your workbox. Thread organiser boxes are available in various sizes, but you will need one that is big enough to hold the bobbins upright, so that they do not lose their shapes.
Other storage solutions include special plastic boxes that are shaped to hold skeins of thread alongside each other, and an American system called LoRan which comprises a card strips and a file – a larger version of the thread organisers that most of us use for storage of particular threads for a project.
We have different opinions about which way to store threads works best, and we have unique needs too. One thing we must all agree though; it’s a good idea to have some sort of thread storage system that meets our needs; otherwise, we can waste a lot of time and money trying to find the right thread for a project.
Happy Stitching!
Iona
I use my bobbin boxes and to solve the problem of losing the colour code number off the bobbin, I create a table of all the different colours in each section of the box and also writing the code on the bobbin with a sharpie also can solve this problem. Do you have any tips for storing your cross stitch and threads when traveling?