DMC Embroidery Floss...does it go on sale?

[WesternWilson]

I was sorting through my DMC cottons and noting down which colours I need to get. Does Michaels ever put the DMC on sale?
(by the way, they had a 50% off a single item printable internet coupon last week which certainly got me to pay an unscheduled visit to the store!)

[BetsyV]

I think they do, WW. Last time I took advantage of a sale, my DH was so annoyed by the trip (only a short bit out of our way) he offered to buy me all the DMC colors so I bought 1 skein of every single one. How selfish. But I DID skip over those I knew I had several skeins of, so it wasn't quite a buyout of the whole display case. Needless to say, the checkout person took my word for it that I had 223 skeins of floss (or whatever it was).

Thank goodness I did. Occasionlly since then I have needed a bit of embroidery floss of a peculiar shade and don't you know, I have it  I am using some now, to attach trim to my current Chanel-style jacket project.

[WesternWilson]

My husband also has an irrational loathing of Michaels! I am about to do what you did, get every single colour into my collection, sorted by colour families. I have my DMC swatch card, from the good old days when the card was made with actual threads of the floss. I am going to set up my storage boxes just as the floss card is set up and see how that goes.

[BetsyV]

I think I am going to change my organization of these from big zip bags by color of tiny zip bags of each color. I find I need to locate by color # most of the time so I think I am going to reorganize the tiny bags into big zip bags by the hundred # (100's, 200's etc). My mom has hers hanging from a pegboard on the back of her sewing room door, by color family using the color card.

[WesternWilson]

Your mom's peg board sounds very nice!

In the back of my old swatch card is a cross reference, by number, to the columns of the colour card and the colour families, so I will still be able to search by specific number. Because I am usually matching thread to a photo, grouping by colour families should work better for me. But how I wish they had, in the beginning, adopted a numbering system which kept colour families together!

[kbenco]

I am interested in how people organize their threads.  The peg board sounds like a great idea, but it is annoying that quite close shades can have widely separated numbers. I buy embroidery threads whenever they are on sale, as I like to have a wide choice when I am choosing colours for smocking, once I have the colours sorted, I can buy a few more skeins in that colour for particular projects. My mum bought me these storage rolls at a craft fair. I was initially not really keen on them, thinking that the velcro closures would snag the threads, but it doesn't happen as long as I am careful. I have organized them by number, other than the stray complete skeins at the end that have somehow lost their numbers! I will not show you my partial skeins, as they are a complete mess.

Karen

[WesternWilson]

kbenco, I wind mine onto floss cards (one per skein), writing the number at the top right corner of the card, and store them in a compartmented plastic box that fits the cards perfectly, all craft stores have them. The DMC floss chart organizes the flosses in columns and keeps colour families together. At the back of the chart is a numerical reference in number order that tells you which column the number can be found in. So you can, as I have in the past, organize your flosses by number (which is good if you are only doing charted work and not choosing colours on your own) OR (if you are hand matching or creating your own colour schemes and need to scan entire families) you can file the flosses by the column order in the DMC chart, which as I said, equals storing them in colour families.

For instance, the first column in my floss chart (and the first row in my storage box) is the peachy pink family, and goes in this order:
3713 (Very Light Salmon)
761
760
3712
3328
347
948
754
353
352
351
350
349
817
894
893
892
891 (Dark Carnation)

On the DMC site is an even better system (I imagine...I have not laid the flosses out to check) which lists colour families by number, and it differs from my card (which is old and may not have all the current colours):

3713
761
760
3712
3328
347
353
352
351
350
349
817
3708
3705
3706
3801
666
321
304
498
816
815
814
894
893
892
891

[kbenco]

Thanks for pointing out the DMC site. I can see that this would be a fabulous way to arrange them, maybe I can convince my children that it would be a great holiday project......

[Rhonda in Vegas]

Hi!

Very first post, been lurking around for quite a while. I just received a flyer from Joann's. They have DMC floss 3 for .99 next week.

Rhonda in Vegas

[BetsyV]

Hi Rhonda! Welcome!

[JIF]

I know that this is about 6 months late, but just do me one favor.  When you buy all of your floss at Michael's because it is cheaper than your local shop, just don't take your project into the little shop with the expert to ask for help.  Michael's sells so much that they can sell it cheaper than your local needlework shop can BUY it from the wholesaler.   When you buy from the little shop, you are keeping them in business.  You decide.  Do you need the expert to help you?  Or can you just buy it cheaply and do it by yourself?  It is just not fair to take a project you bought cheaply from a big store, and ask the small shop owner for help.  A longtime friend used to own a needlework shop in Alexandria Virginia, and one of the main reasons she went out of business is the fact that she couldn't compete with the big box stores.  Michael's, A.C. Moore, Ben Franklin -- there is nothing wrong with them.  They may be able to sell it cheaper, but where do you go for help?   Just keep it in mind.  Thanks!!

[WesternWilson]

I don't know about you guys, but I have no local shop that sells DMC floss. The two fabric stores between me and Micheal's only stock a few colours. That said, I do have the option of driving a bit further to a stitchery shop...the last left in our metropolitan area, and that is what I will do.

Whenever possible, I do go to local businesses, because I know if I don't, they won't be there. That said, I also expect my local businesses to go to their wholesaler and say "I need to be able to compete with Micheal's, what are you going to do for me?"

[Liana]

Hi JIF,

Glad you've found us here, or perhaps you've been reading a while already and have just 'taken the plunge' and decided to start posting too.  Either way, it's great to have you here!  It sounds a little like you might be a needlework shop owner?  If so, we'd love to hear about it!  As you might guess, we like needlework shops.   

I have to say that I don't buy much embroidery floss, but when I do, the only place here with a full color series is Ben Franklin, which IS a locally owned store, still owned by the same family that started it at least 50 years ago, and maybe longer. So I think of buying from them as buying locally, I guess.  Other than that, my choices are Michael's, Hancock's, JoAnn's, WalMart, etc.  The last needlework shop here closed a couple years ago, and I was one who lamented greatly, as the things she carried are not available anywhere I know of now, and I bought lots of stuff there.  She was quite busy and only closed her shop because her family situation made it impossible for her to work away from home, so now she just does long-arm quilting.  Before that, the only needlework shop in town (the two didn't overlap in time) closed about 15 years ago when the original owner retired and sold it.

Like many others, my town is down to mainly quilting shops and the chains.  Compared to many people's situation, I feel lucky to at least have chain stores here.  I think we all try to patronize our local businesses when we can.  There have been quite a few threads on the board, and many, many posts on supporting local businesses, because as sewers and needleworkers, we have surely learned what happens when there is a dearth of enthusiasts to be customers.  Sometimes no matter how much we might buy from a shop, if there isn't the client base in the area, they just aren't going to make it.   

If you're lucky enough to have good needlework and/or fabric shops in your town, you're lucky indeed!   There are many here who envy you your resources, I'm sure.

You may already know that this board has lots of neat features that you will want to try.  If you have any questions or need help with anything, just ask the Administrators or Moderators.

There are a couple of threads that may be of interest to you as you look around the site, and which can truly answer almost any question about how to post things here, including photos and avatars and signature links.

The "Are You New, Please Read This Thread First" is a good place to start, and

Forum Decorum & FAQ is Answers Central, where you'll find each post titled with its own subject, so it's easy to find exactly what you are looking for. 

And there's the ever-popular Sandbox where you can try out all the features, and which is a very easy place to get help or have questions answered when you can't quite get it from the FAQ.

There's also a very good Search feature, and you'll get the best results if you use the Advanced Search button.

Again, welcome, and it's great to have you here! 

 

[Cookn]

I wish it was that easy for the local businesses to compete, Janet. Where the big box stores win the war is in volume of purchases. when they purchase they buy the whole truck and have it shipped to one place and they do the distribution on the product. It saves the manufacturer money and they pass that savings on to the purchaser. If the local store could purchase in large  volume, they could compete on price. All they can compete on is service and customer service is an odd commodity, customers expect the absolute best service they can find but can't correlate the fact that good knowledgeable employees cost more than your average attitude ridden person that you find walking the aisles of most stores, because they have settled for poor service so long that they are used to it and can't make the jump to service costs.

Even as a crafty guy, I hate Michael's, the most important thing to me and one of the main things I judge a store by is whether I can walk hand in hand with my Lady as we shop. If I have to walk behind her or she me, the store gets a big black mark in my book. Michael's is on the list, in their quest to display more product, they have taken away one of the pleasures of my life and I hate to submit to their desire to gouge my pocketbook at the expense of my comfort. It leads me to believe that if they are willing to take the comfort out of my shopping experience, what else am I getting short changed on.

Ok back on DMC, yes I did purchase one of each for Linda, because that's just the way we work. I hate having to run to the store just to finish something, especially when running to the store is 50 miles one way.