Organising embroidery threads

I recently found these photos of a Jane Brocket quilt, made with vintage embroidery pieces,  and it sparked my desire to embroider again. I love hand sewing. Now that these stitched pieces are popular again, it's become very difficult to find enough old embroidery to make a large project such as a quilt or tablecloth. I thought it might be a worthwhile exercise to make up a few pieces, modelled on these old patterns. But first I had to organise myself and my sewing threads.

So yesterday I did a job I've been putting off for months. I sorted through my embroidery threads and organised them in boxes, according to colour. I've been a stitcher for many years and have quite a large collection of threads, mainly DMC. These threads are quite expensive and it's worth my while to look after those I have. The last time I looked, these skeins of thread were between 99 cents and $1.25 so my collection, and maybe yours too, would cost a lot to replace.

A lot of us have a tin full of threads like this.  I decided to organise mine into these little boxes.

I already had a couple of boxes full of my threads, but I needed more space and a couple of new boxes.

 Start by sorting it all into colours and then wind all your skeins onto a little plastic spool.

Threads are easier to keep without getting tangled if they sit on a spool rather than held together with their little labels.

 Don't forget to write the colour code on the spool with permanent marker.

If you're starting out and only have a few colours, I still think it's a good idea to buy one of these little organising caddies. I used the Birch Midi Organiser Box available at Spotlight. It keeps the threads clean, dust-free and ready to use. You'll soon fill a box as threads are the type of product you tend pick up a few at a time when you buy other craft items or start a new project. It doesn't take long to fill a box. You can use an empty compartment to store your needles.

Start off by winding all your threads on a plastic spool onto which you've written the number code of the thread. You'll need that to buy an exact colour replacement in the future. I've found the best way to store them is to colour sort them, but if you've like another way better then do that.

If you want to try this craft, I've written this post about how to get started with embroidery and if you feel guilty about sitting down during the day with your crafts, read this post I wrote many years ago. It might ease your mind.

Here are some embroidery links:
Purl Bee stitchery tutorials
Vintage patterns 1
Vintage patterns 2
Some of my stitchery patterns

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