I started stitching (cross stitching, that is) about a million years ago. Maybe that's a tiny exaggeration, but only a tiny one. The stitchy obsession has been an on-again, off-again thing for me, and these days, I'm really thrilled to be combining stitching and quilting in new and exciting ways.
However. . .
Organizing and storing up to 500 different shades of 6-stranded floss, identified by number, is one of those things that evades many folks, as it has evaded me in that same on-again, off-again mood-swing mode.
One solution: start a new project, buy all new floss for that project. There is a valid case to be made for that.
But tight-wad, tidy-butt, ScrapTherapy-quilter-types like me are ever in search of that miracle storage solution for all those leftover thread colors from project to project. Like quilty scraps that continue to have a purpose!
Way back when - probably, it would have been in the 80's - you could buy these flat, teardrop-shaped plastic jobbers with an opening at one end for the thread, a slotted area for the thread sleeve identifying the floss color number and a small hold for a hanging system.
The way this worked: Removed the paper wrapper from the skein of thread, then cut ALL the thread into similar-length pieces. Then tie the cut threads all in one clump into a loose knot through the hole in the plastic thingy. Drop in the the paper skein-wrapper in the space on the teardrop then load the plastic thingy with a bunch of others onto a ring in numbered sequence.
I suppose this system worked well enough. However, all those loose lengths of thread get tangled and raggedy. If you wanted to remove one skein in the middle for a project, you had to fiddle with removing and replacing the skeins ahead of it in the sequence on the ring. Plus somewhere between whenever this system was created and now, the little plastic thingies were discontinued.
You may already be aware that about a year ago, I introduced these nifty Your Nest Thread Nest Floss Bobbins into the Hummingbird Highway family. I really prefer to cut the length of thread when I need it to the length I want it at the time I want it. These are perfect for storing floss a whole uncut skein at a time. You can see a video of how I like to load my bobbins over at the shopping page. . . .Click HERE to see the video - you'll see the link right below the "Description" when you scroll down a tiny bit.
By wrapping the thread around the bobbins like so (below), the loaded bobbins stack and store nicely.
My dilemma has been finding the best way to store threads that have already been cut and combine them with the full-skein, uncut bobbin system.
With about 100 colors stored on the old pre-cut system, and the rest on the Your Nest bobbins, I essentially had to search through two sequences of the colors to find the colors needed for a project. Not efficient, and needless to say the 1980s method felt sloppy.
I really didn't want to scrap the threads on the older system and start over, but I didn't want to continue to maintain two different systems.
So-o-o . . . I found a slightly different way to wrap pre-cut threads around Your Nest bobbins.
I removed the pre-cut thread clump from the old system. Then, folded the thread clump in the middle and hooked the fold onto one branch of the Your Nest Floss Bobbin, then wrapped the two sides of the thread alternately and simultaneously. One side of the thread went around the branches back to front to back, while the other side of the threads went front to back to front, etc.
The resulting wrap is a bit more even around the nest-shaped bobbin.
They don't nestle together quite as well as the bobbins with the uncut skein of floss.
However, all the floss colors can now be stored in one numbered sequence. A HUGE win!
It took about a week's-worth of my morning sessions typically devoted to sewing to convert the old teardrops to bobbins, then fill my three storage boxes to accommodate all my DMC floss in one place.
I'm much happier to have one system where there once was two! An organizational win!
As an aside, Your Nest Thread Nest Floss bobbins can be found here.
Happy Stitching!
Head Hummingbird
Hummingbird-Highway.com
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