Monday, May 21, 2012

No Sense to the System


Do you ever wonder why certain things are the way they are?
What's with the numbering system of DMC floss? 
It's one of those systems that makes no sense to me.
 The colors jump all over the place according to their numbers.

I tried to do a little investigating about their numerical system, but
couldn't find why they're in that order.
I thought it might be that as more new colors are added
they're just placed at the end.
So everything ends up being willt nilly.

Finally, there is a newer color chart available
that arranges the floss by their color families not by the color number.
It's so useful.

The hardest part of my floss collection is trying
to find the best way to keep what I have
organized enough so I can find what I need.

Sound familiar?

I've tried the 
Floss-Away plastic bags
which is nice because all you have to do is
put the floss in the bag to keep it from getting tangled and
it's easy to put leftover strands in there as well.

But those little bags go all over the place.
I've put them in boxes, and on metal rings.
It just doesn't work for me.

Then I've tried the paper and plastic bobbins.
They're ok.
But first you have to wind the floss on to the bobbin.
Which takes time.
The hard part is when you have a couple of
strands leftover. I know you can just wind it back on.
But it doesn't always want to stay.

Then I bought these.
They are the length of the  floss and bendable
so you can slip the floss into the grooves at the
stop and bottom and not have to wind it on.
 There's also preprinted sticky numbers for easy identification.
 They're a little pricey, but it works pretty well.  

There are plastic sleeves to
slip these into to keep them from unwinding.
You can see them below.
Notice I don't have anything in them.

But still the floss is sorted by their crazy numbers.
Mostly I do this when I'm working on an embroidery project.

But it's not good either.  
If you loose the number sleeve, the 
floss is doomed forever to the
 "tin of the unknown floss"

 Until Next Time-

4 comments:

  1. I have a tin of the unknown floss, too, and I rarely (as you know) ever embroider. The colors are pretty, though! Your heart embroidery is very sweet!

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  2. I got such a kick out of your post. I have a horrible "ball of floss" but also some organized on the cardboard. I like those new holders - they look great
    thanks for a monday morning smile!

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  3. I'm glad someone else has an embroidery floss problem! Mine is scattered everywhere from an old system to a new system to an even newer system, none of which work.

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