Silk Floss

Speaking of silk floss, I was finally ready to purchase the silk
thread-pack from Just CrossStitch to do the "Le Jardin silk sampler"
that was in one of the issues a few years ago. They told me today they
no longer have it. Major (( !!! Evidently the company's been sold
since then so the one doesn't carry it. She also said they were the
only ones *to* carry it. Have any of you seen it anywhere else? Having
never worked with silks before, I don't really want to invest lots of
money in individuals skeins if I don't have to. Of course, if I *have*
to, I'm sure they'll get used in other designs.
Another example of why stash enhancement should never be put off!!!

--
Joan pouting

See my first-ever design he
http://www.heritageshoppe.com/joan.jpg

"Stitch when you are young and poor, frame when you are old and rich."
- Elizabeth's (rctn'r) sister's MIL (Barbara Marr)

Wow that was some good information!! Thanks so much. It was really helpful.


Subject: Silk Floss
From: Jeanine3
Date: 1/21/2004 12:28 AM Eastern Standard Time
Message-id: H5oPb.199933$X%5.159838@pd7tw2no

Wow, Fran, thanks so much! That helps me tremendously and I'm sure Rhea
will feel the same when she reads your reply.
Jeanine in Canada


Rhea from KY, USA

You've all given me alot to think about. I've even taken notes so I won't
forget it. I've looked at the links provided and am trying to make sense of
all of the choices.

I've been looking at silk mori in the milkpaints as I stitch alot of antique
sampler reproductions and thoughts those colors looked like my pallet. What is
your opinion on this particular brand?

I had NO idea there were so many choices and options!!! I'm so glad I asked
this question.


Rhea from KY, USA

Really great stuff from Fran, here. I'd like to add that it's pretty
much guaranteed (unless you're using Needlepoint Inc's silks) that
they *will not* be colorfast. This is particularly true of the Caron
silks. Give 'em a good soaking in cold water (fill a small bowl, dump
the silk in, and wander off to do something else for 20-30 minutes)
before you stitch. The let-it-soak technique allows you to do
something else while the excess dyestuff leaches out into the water,
saves water (because you're not standing over the sink running water
into the drain), and saves your back (because you're not standing over
the sink). If the water is still pretty colorful after that 20-30
minute soak, dump it, fill the bowl again, and let it soak some more.
The predominantly red Caron overdyed that's used in Drawn Thread's
"Sanctuary" took nearly 48 hours of soaking. Still has some really
nice variegation in it!

Darla, who probably has another sig showing up at the end of the post,
past the quoted material
On Wed, 21 Jan 2004 03:03:21 GMT, fran
wrote:

Since you asked.......

There are two main types of silk threads - "filament" silk and
non-filament silk (I don't remember the official name). Eterna
Silk's website had a really great write-up on at one point. Most
commercial brands do not use filament silk.

Non-Filament Silk:
This silk is spun, I believe, from the outer layers of the cocoon. It
is coarser and handles much like a very smooth cotton floss. Caron,
JL Walsh, Au Ver A Soie, The Thread Gatherer, etc., are all made with
non-filment silk. These are all similar in usage, with the biggest
variance being the number of plies. JL Walsh and Au Ver A Soie are
solid colors, Caron and The Thread Gatherer are overdyed.

Filament Silk:
This silk is very shiny, very slippery, and snags on everything,
including your eyelashes and the dog across the street. It produces
the shine that screams silk, though. An indication of what you are
getting into with filament silk is that rayon was producted in
imitation of it, and rayon thread can be a pain to work with.
Filament silk is, needless to say, my favorite type of silk thread
because of how it looks stitched up.

Manufacturers using filament silk are Eterna and some Kreinik silks.
Eterna Silk is available trom Thread Express, and runs $0.75 per
skein. Skeins are 5 meters, 6 ply, 450 colors convertable to DMC
colors, with some overdyes. Just a note - dyes take differently on
different materials, so an exact match between silk and cotton is very
difficult to get, if not impossible. Eterna did get very close on all
but about 10% of the colors.

Since filament silk is difficult to work with, I would suggest you
start with the non-filament types first, as they handle much like
cotton, then graduate to filament silk. If you want to dive into the
deep end with filament silk, let me know, and I'll share some tricks
to handling it.



Handling silk threads (from the people who taught me Japanese
Embroidery):

Make sure your hands are clean. Silk, especially filament silk,
absorbs the oils in your skin very easily.

If your hands are rough, use conditioners, lotions, etc., *after*
working with the silk. Do not use just before as some can take up to
an hour to completely absorb into your skin.

Do not touch your face as you are working, as you will transfer the
oils from your face onto your hands, and thus onto the silk.

If you lick your floss, make sure your mouth is clean - ie. sip water,
not soda or coffee, stay away from snacking as you work, etc., etc.

These are good rules, but can be hard to follow until you retrain
yourself. I do know they are very true for filament silks from pure
hard experience. I must admit, I am fanatical about these rules when
using filament silk, but not with the other - since it doesn't seem to
absorb the oils so much, I don't worry about it too much.

Hope this gives you what you were asking for.



On 21 Jan 2004 01:21:14 GMT, ojunk (Rhea )
wrote:

I'm really interested in starting to stitch in silk. There are several brands
out there with several price ranges. Could someone share their experience with
silk floss and their recommendations. I live 85 miles from LNS, so I usually
order from the internet or ebay. And I usually purchase a large order at a
time. Thanks for your help.
Rhea from KY, USA

Darla
Sacred cows make great hamburgers.

A laying tool is extreamly helpful, along with keeping your lengths to
around 12 inches. I work slowly when using filament silk, making sure
the threads don't tangle or form loops on the backside, which they are
prone to do.

When they snag (and they will), you can usually pull the snag out by
grasping the thread about 2 inches on each side of the snag and gently
snapping the thread taut. If this doesn't take all the snag out, you
can then try placing you finger and thumb down against the fabric and
gently running them up the thread. It may take two or three tries,
but you should get most of the snag out.

However, the best way to avoid snags is to make sure your hands are
smooth. I will take an emery board to a rough area on my skin if the
silk starts snagging there. Using a pumice store when washing your
hands helps, as does using moisturizers routinely. You can also use
the home hot-wax therapies, etc.

If you are doing cross stitch with filament thread, be extra careful
about making your crosses all the same way - making a stitch to
opposite way **shows**!! I have to look for the errors in cotton or
stranded silk (and yes, I always have them), but they are glaring in
filament silk because of the high shine.

As an example, I am currently working Dimple Designs' Rex with
Eterna's mini-twist on Silkweaver's Reflections Twilight, 32-count.
I have a couple of stitches in the crown of the bird where I goofed
and did the crosses the wrong way. They really show up against the
surrounding stitches because you can see the change in the angle of
the light reflecting off the top stitch. I am going to have to make a
third stitch over these in the appropriate colors in order to fix them
(the crown is a tangle of colors, so frogging isn't an option).
Sigh.

On Wed, 21 Jan 2004 06:55:09 -0600, Dianne Lewandowski
wrote:

What a great response, Fran.

Some of the non-filament threads are fuzzier than others, too. Soie
d'Alger (from Au ver a Soie) is quite fuzzy, but I enjoy the end result
- though the sheen is much like cotton.

The silk that I have found to be "in between" in final appearance is
Madeira. Shinier than many, less fuzzy. Easy to use. 2-ply, bundled
in 4 strands.

I need to learn to use filament silk. I had a skein of it from Eterna
and didn't like it at all because I didn't know how to handle it. I'll
bet a laying tool is the answer.

Dianne

fran wrote:

Since you asked.......

There are two main types of silk threads - "filament" silk and
non-filament silk (I don't remember the official name). Eterna
Silk's website had a really great write-up on at one point. Most
commercial brands do not use filament silk.
[snip]

In article ,
ojunk (Rhea ) writes:

I've been looking at silk mori in the milkpaints as I stitch alot of antique
sampler reproductions and thoughts those colors looked like my pallet. What
is
your opinion on this particular brand?

I'm using these right now for some blackwork. I like them a lot, they don't
seem to be much more difficult to use than cotton floss. My hands are in very
bad shape right now, though, and they are snagging a lot. This is the only
silk I have tried so far apart from a tiny bit of Rainbow Gallery Pearl Silk
#5, so I don't have anything to compare to really.

India

WIPS:

1. Leisure Arts American Sampler
2. Needlecraft Blackwork Cushion
3. Needlepoint Patchwork Quilt painted canvas
4. Janice Love Hardanger tutorial

I've been looking at silk mori in the milkpaints as I stitch alot of antique
sampler reproductions and thoughts those colors looked like my pallet. What
is
your opinion on this particular brand?

I did a small sampler in these -- I think I ordered it from Nordic Needle. The
pattern called for one strand -- I used two, except for the over one parts.
They weren't noticeably harder to work with to me -- but I am more stingy with
them. Tiny little tails were all I had left to snip.

Katrina L.

Ozark is great... I've also fallen love with the Gloriana Threads...such
beautiful colors both varigated and solds in silk...Gloriana has a site...I
think is www.gloriana.com or you might have to throw in a "threads" right
after Gloriana or you can go to www.elegantstitch.com and get to the
Gloriana site that way...Absolute fantastic threads...Also the Weeks Dye
works are good...BUT Glorian is to Die for... Fact every time I make an
order with one online site I tell them to automaticallyl throw in a skein of
Gloriana...They do and make sure they don't duplicate PLUS I'm in two of
their Monthly Floss Frenzy clubs of which they ocassionally include a
Gloriana... I have about seven projects already kitted up with Gloriana and
several more in the works....Wish I owned stock in the company because I'd
make my self a rich man the way I buy it...

Marc

--
http://community.webshots.com/user/needlemania

http://www.cyberstitchers.com/Galler...=1065918331265
"Dr. Brat" wrote in message
...
One thing you can do is watch Ebay for Ozark Samplers "Silk Try It
Sampler." They don't have one listed right now, but this is what it
looks like:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=2369818 672

I've had very good service from them, and suspect that they would put
one together for you on request.

Elizabeth

Jeanine3 wrote:
I'm interested too as I've started TW's Peacock Tapestry and a number of
people have used different silks to stitch the peacock. I've asked on
the TW board the reasons for choosing the different companies as I'd
like to try them too. Our local LNS (the only one!) does not stock many
and most are varigated (Caron, I believe). I'm always enthusiastic about
learning something new! Looking forward to reading the responses to this
"silk thread"!! g
Jeanine in Canada

Rhea wrote:

I'm really interested in starting to stitch in silk. There are
several brands
out there with several price ranges. Could someone share their
experience with
silk floss and their recommendations. I live 85 miles from LNS, so I
usually
order from the internet or ebay. And I usually purchase a large order
at a
time. Thanks for your help. Rhea from KY, USA





--
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~living well is the best revenge~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The most important thing one woman can do for another is to illuminate
and expand her sense of actual possibilities. --Adrienne Rich
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

I just finished a Model Stitching Job that used Silk Mori...A Black Panther
which used about five or six skeins of the black and then some grays and a
little other colors but 95% black...actually first time I stitched with
Silk mori and had no problem, whatever with it...stitched beautifully...

Marc

--
http://community.webshots.com/user/needlemania

http://www.cyberstitchers.com/Galler...=1065918331265
"Rhea " wrote in message
...
You've all given me alot to think about. I've even taken notes so I won't
forget it. I've looked at the links provided and am trying to make sense
of
all of the choices.

I've been looking at silk mori in the milkpaints as I stitch alot of
antique
sampler reproductions and thoughts those colors looked like my pallet.
What is
your opinion on this particular brand?

I had NO idea there were so many choices and options!!! I'm so glad I
asked
this question.


Rhea from KY, USA

so do you have any pictures? sounds gorgeous.
Dora



I just finished a Model Stitching Job that used Silk Mori...A Black Panther
which used about five or six skeins of the black and then some grays and a
little other colors but 95% black...actually first time I stitched with
Silk mori and had no problem, whatever with it...stitched beautifully...

Marc

--
http://community.webshots.com/user/needlemania

http://www.cyberstitchers.com/Galler...=1065918331265
"Rhea " wrote in message
...
You've all given me alot to think about. I've even taken notes so I won't
forget it. I've looked at the links provided and am trying to make sense
of
all of the choices.

I've been looking at silk mori in the milkpaints as I stitch alot of
antique
sampler reproductions and thoughts those colors looked like my pallet.
What is
your opinion on this particular brand?

I had NO idea there were so many choices and options!!! I'm so glad I
asked
this question.


Rhea from KY, USA