I'm setting up a craftroom in my new home and I remembered loving your floss storage solution. I was so excited to see the update, (only not watched because of the 'moving mayhem'!), and was doubly excited to find the spreadsheet solution to recording. I am discovering the amazing things I can do in Excel. Thank you so so much! Enjoy the holiday break 💚
so happy to see a new video from you! I'm a "cheap homemade floss dropper" myself. I actually use the little cardboard bobbins and punch another hole for the floss LOL. I'm not sure what length you're measuring your floss to before cutting, but I don't measure at all..... I fold the entire length of a skein in half 3 times, which gives me, once I cut the loops, 8 one meter lengths. I double them for a loop start of half a meter working thread or cut them in half when using a single strand (rare!). I don't use any sort of measuring device at all LOL. best wishes!
That seems to be what everyone except for me does! Fully accept that I'm the odd one out here, I just can't get past that fear of them not all being the same length 😅
@thegiddystitcher That’s funny because when I watched you measure the floss with that card I thought “oh but what if they don’t come out the same length.” I wish my brain didn’t care.
@@LennyLefebvre-qb6qx I agree. And as for DMC changing the length of thread in a skein, I reckon they'll reorder their numbering system to make sense and hell will freeze over first.
Hello, Im a beginner of cross stitching and I have been binge watching your videos for the past week and I love em. I was wondering if you could make a video explaining why sometimes we need to use 3 strings of floss and sometimes 2 (I’ve realized that that’s the most common amounts) and different types of fabric and which projects are suitable for which fabrics. I’ve been having trouble understanding that and just wanted to know if you’d like to make a video about it!
A finer thread or a smaller number of strands covers less fabric, so it's suitable for a higher thread count fabric if you're doing any of the counted thread embroidery styles such as cross stitch, or for making a more detailed image in non-counted embroidery styles. A thicker thread or a larger number of strands covers more fabric, so it works for lower thread count fabrics or less detailed images. If you compare the number of strands the pattern calls for to the thread count of the fabric you'll see the correlation.
I started using this system several years ago and I love it. I have a dowel rod hanging on 2 command strips. Works great. Although, I need to have mine in numerical order. ☺️ Also, I save my cereal boxes and make my floss drops out of them. I have command strips hanging on my sewing cart to hang my ring of floss for the current project and one for my scissors. ✂️ Thanks for the video. 👍
Add a third small hole to floss drops to hold smaller pieces of floss. Use these smaller pieces first if you want. I add the third hole to all of mine. Keeps things neat and organized.
hi michelle, a crazy thought : have you considered pre-making a dozen / making a dozen extra while already making floss drops? if you have room in your bobbin box they can be all neatly stored right at the floss station...
Another plus of having the floss drops hanging is the inspiration it might give. I love to embroider with thin linnen "Yarn" and have them on a large metall ring on a hook. And since they are thrifted I don't care to number them but hang them one by one in color.
Instead of having to get our cardboard for winding the floss, you can pull the whole skein of floss loose, and then join the two ends together and fold in half until you get the length you need and cut the loops! Makes it go so much faster then trying to wind it consistently on a piece of paper!
This is what I came here to say, and I’m so glad someone said it a month ago. When I switched to floss drops 4 years ago, I tried winding them around a piece of cardboard. It was ridiculous because 8m skeins aren’t always 6m and I had these tails to deal with. Some of floss lengths were much longer or shorter than others. So I did a little math and realized that those ~8m skeins will yield ~1m lengths by simply folding the floss. What a time saver!
Welcome to the drops-forever club!! =) granted I bought mine but ya. . . Never going back. Ever. Omgosh. . . That bit about the scrap floss? Inspired! Why did I never think of that!! I always just stubbornly use the scrap piece regardless of practicality on the next pull of that color. Why oh why have I bot consosdered just holding onto the scraps till I need a smaller bit?!? It's not like they are gling anywhere. . .
Honestly some of the scraps from the original batch are still sitting there unused, but I know one day they'll come in handy and save me raging out and the peace of mind is worth it :D
Thanks for this fun video Michelle ❤. Bobbins work for me. I have 2 boxes of DMC threads in number order and, yes, it is bit of a journey moving them all on to fit new ones in 😂, but I dont mind! My 3rd box contains other brands and hand dyed threads kept together by brand as there's not many of each. I do have a little bobbin winder gadget that clips to the storage box which helps! Happy stitching!
I have experimented with floss drops myself and I absolutely love them! Never going back! I have used the little gift tags to make mine and I have also made floss drops using index cards. I think I like my index card ones more. I just stamp holes into the index cards one at the top for the metal ring and three big holes near the bottom for the floss I also stamp three small holes one beside the bigger holes to hold the extra smaller floss that can still be used.
When you do have the floss drop supplies out, make a bunch extra and store them in a small bin or something. Then you only have to mark the colour number and load the floss.
That whole process was weirdly soothing to my nervous system! I love everything about it, it just makes sense! I would definitely switch to this system if I did more cross stitch. And that spreadsheet is beautiful! 😍
Floss drops forever! Seriously, especially for us loop starters it just makes EVERYTHING easier. Currently my 100ish color DMC collection lives on some cheap acrylic drops I bought off Amazon and put some handwritten labels on. The ones not kitted up hang on an S hook meant for belts in my closet. But as my collection expands I’ve been drooling over the fancy schmancy pip and chip ones and the tidy ikea box inserts for them. Sooo pretty! But being another never do anything by halves person I’d want the entire set and I’d also probably feel compelled to go fill all the drops too. So that’s going to have to wait for a time I have roughly $500 USD to throw at it. Still though, even then, I expect I’ll keep using the cheap floss drops for the off brand small stamped kits I keep in my “emergency to go project bag.” Basically a small ish stamped project I keep in a separate project bag all kitted up with separate tools etc so I can toss it in my tote bag on the way out the door without a second thought on those days when I expect I’ll have some waiting around to do or time to kill but I don’t know that I’ll have time/space/brain power for a more involved project. I won’t rekit those in DMC and you’ll make yourself nuts trying to find equivalent colors anyway. So I just use the number they give it within the kit on the label to reduce even more brain use. Though I do have a friend who’s brother built her a floss drop cabinet with hooks for rings like you have, kind of an oversized shadow box thing that has UV protective archival glass on the front. So she can display all her floss but not worry about dust or fading. Which is pretty cool.
Oh that friend's setup sounds excellent! Love the idea of the stamped projects for your "waiting around" project, usually I've got a knitted sock on the go to fill that particular void. Those Pip and Chip ones look sooooo good, but yeah it was quite the realisation of how much they would end up costing. Maybe when I'm rich and famous...
@ Isn’t that the truth. Other people would buy fancy cars or vacation homes if they were rich and famous. Crafters dream of building gorgeous crafting spaces and stash palaces full of everything we could dream of using.
Thanks for the update - I also prefer floss drops. It's so much easier to pull one thread and then to also save bits that are long enough to still use. I also use the same spreadsheet and added a one-word name for which project it's in (I'm currently working on 24 WIPs). When there's multiples it just has lots of words next to it. It works really well. I added another sheet for fancy floss (since I don't have lots of those)
I also have a spreadsheet for my floss. But im a bobbin girl. Even if i did find a place to hang my threads, i just can't imagine all the dust and cat fur they'd pick up! Also, can't imagine said cats not playing with them and creating the biggest knot known to mankind! For wips i use knitting stitch holders to hold all the relevant bobbins. I have just about every size stitch holder to suit how many colours each wip needs. Once im finished with a colour (im also a one colour at a time girl) I put it back in the box. I also have a spread sheet to print my numbers which i cover with clear sticky tape to attach (and glue, but the sticky tape appears to do most of the actual sticking!) to the bobbins, and i have (new) where dmc have changed the dye since 30 odd years ago, or where I can visually see a difference.
I do a hybrid floss drop/bobbin style system that I LOVE. I got an $11 heavy duty hole punch and put holes in my plastic DMC bobbins. Then do the floss drop thing but when I go to store them, I wrap them around the bobbin and put them in a box. With three shedding dogs who get into everything, and the ick factor of the drops' thread not being protected from tangling (even though that doesn't seem to be a problem for most people), it's worked well for me and my brain. I also only do blackwork embroidery at this point so my need for vast color selections is limited and I don't need to kit up a ton of colors to switch between, so YMMV.
I just switched to drops and honestly the difference in just being able to grab my colours and be ready to go in a couple minutes is a huge game changer (I printed the bobbins on my 3d printer).
100%! Down with faff, that's my motto. I did consider 3d printing for mine but we only have a resin printer and it can be pretty finicky, you know where you are with plain white cardboard 😅
LOVE Reviews….. and this could be done for so many of Your diversified projects….. PROCRASTINATION does allow the brain to rest a bit (like negative space) thinking out alternative possibilities for success …….the color array of FLOSS in the background is so welcoming plus it is almost-signature Branding when hosting Your videos from that location….Have a warm and peaceful weekend Dear….
Thank you for the update! The floss drops always look so.. tasty in your backdrop. Personally I'm a bobbin user, mostly because they're more space efficient and I have too many craft supplies. As for "apps" - I use Thread Stash for my organization. It's a website so you can use it for both your phone and on your laptop, AND you can assign colors to projects and see what you're missing. Very useful! Data nerds assemble!!
Bobbins served me well for a few years, I certainly don't dislike them! They're just such a faff to actually use, by comparison, so I'll continue to make space for hanging the drops and save shelf space by crushing a load of fabric into storage cubes instead 😅
@@AModNamedMel used to use thread stash app but now use notion. We set up our own database to assign to projects while also interacting with our stitch logs. Also O share this with my sister as we track at the same time
@@tntori5079 I used to use notion, but after they started integrating ai-features, I didnt feel like my data was safe there anymore (they say they dont collect data, but well. we know how that usually goes) Their database features are sooo nice though....
your original video is what inspired me to switch over completely and i'm so pleased with floss drops, so thank you for that! i did end up buying the fancy acrylic ones after some experimenting. i don't know if i'm just overly aggressive but the card would start tearing after a while and i figured at a certain point i'd spend the same amount on replacing them so i gave in. also: i sort on rings by color as well. i have a spreadsheet to keep track of the colors i have and which ring it lives on. because you're right: it's pretty :)
Thanks! Fun, clear, and helpful as always! I also make my own floss drops. I love 'em! I put each on a little ring. I put about 12 to 20 on a big ring. Then in my closet (which is now half craft space) I have hangers with lsrge holes, like for scarves and I clip the big rings through. It is like your system except that #1 each drop is on a small ring, so when kitting, it is easily removeable to add to a big project ring and #2 I arrange DMC numerically. I arrange floss by other makers (mostly overdyes) on separate hangers and by color. I have a few of a few threads (silk, Flower, pearl, Anchor) in a drawer of little sewing box. All the rings are a bit weighty, but access is simple...snap off rings of floss needed without removing the big ring. If a project has more than 6 or 8 colors, I have begun to move floss, once kitted up, off rings and onto a (homemade) thread keeper thing (flat piece of some thin but sturdy material with multiple holes). This may make it easier to see the colors than when hanging on the ring, and lighter, and maybe w less tending to snarl in storage or transport bags. My old bobbin boxes hold duplicate or replacement thread, either on old bobbins still or still in a skein sorta folded up into the little compartment I have an Excel spreadsheet but I am still rather manual and print out copies that I pencil notes on. And I don't do a good job of that so I dont always know WHERE some color is , but the spreadsheet sent to my phone has helped prevent purchase of colors I already own!
Glad your system is working for you. I don't use floss drops much. I have some of my floss in bobbins and have added some to it but its mainly what I had from when I stitched before. When kitting up projects I put the skein of floss in floss away bags on a ring. My stash of Dmc are in either a plastic storage system in drawers by number or some of them are in a wooden art drawer cabinet. I use the Lord Libidian tracker to keep track of my stash but not what's in my bobbin boxes or kitted. Take care Michelle
You're very welcome :) It's a long time since I downloaded it and made my changes so there may be new features in the latest version, but the main thing is just having a good starting point with all the numbers already in there!
Floss drops are a must have. And precut floss chefs kiss. I spent the last 4ish years collecting acrylic floss drop bobbins because I didn’t have a place other than bins to sort them. Something I did for the in between is taking the dmc cardboard bobbins and using a circle punch to take a bit out of the middle. It’s not exactly pretty, but it works. I track my floss in a spreadsheet too 🤓 I have 3 locations as well. My main bins where i can get floss for projects (I put them on project thread organizers) and then I have two locations for my extra floss. I have a drawer of brand new skeins and old boxes of skeins out on cardboard bobbins some precut and some not 🤷♀️ I’d love to display my floss because you’re right, it’s pretty to look at, but it just isn’t possible right now.
I'm one of those people who have been inspired to use floss drops to organize my threads. However, I don't have the issue of number vs color organization b/c I don't use designed patterns, I'm a 'free-style' embroiderer. I purchased the floss drops on Etsy. They are little 'hangers' so I can just hook it over a dowel and not put it on a ring. we're in the midst of renovating my studio space, so I haven't used the things yet. I am SO looking forward to putting all my threads away, into a beautiful cabinet I thrifted a few years ago.
I love the bobbin system but liked the floss drops too. I kept the bobbin system in ikea drawers. ALL of my flosses have one bobbin in my drawers…every brand. I used a small rubber bin (s) with envelopes for my cut lengths of threads and they sit on top of drawer unit. Most effective for storage and space limitations .
I also use a spreadsheet. I think I got my original from the DMC website. Love this method, as I usually have a long-term project as well as small ones going on.
I am a floss drop gal as well. I do store extra full skeins in snack bags in a set of dresser drawers, properly divided and labeled of course😉😂. I have a generic drop for each color and when I finish a project, the extra goes on the drop and is kept in the bag with the extra skeins (I am a completionist at heart and I have at least one skein of every DMC color... just in case, lol). I really would love to hang them up so I can look at them and be happy but, alas, I don't have anywhere to do so. I love making floss drops specific to each of my larger projects plus I have seasonal ones and "just because the print was pretty" ones. I track my floss on spreadsheets which I print out as a blank form and then fill in with pencil or Frixion pens if I am color coding.
If I were to do floss drops for all my storage (currently use snack size zip bags ordered by number), I’d definitely sort by number, though your way is definitely more aesthetically pleasing. Suggestion: next time you’re making more floss drops, make several dozen extra to have on hand for a time??😉
Bobbins for me, mostly due to having no place to hang up the floss. As for current projects - I have several ‘extra’ bobbin boxes, so I just put the whole bobbin into the kit box in numerical order. The. I put a note somewhere in the box (usually on a post it) with the name of the project. The box can hold a small pair of embroidery scissors on top of the bobbins so I have everything I need. I only have one bobbin per colour and I keep any additional skeins needed for a project in a zip lock bag again marked inside by a post it. This means that the bags are reusable at the completed a project. I use the smaller hole on the bobbin to hold any leftover thread when I finish the section I’m working on. I’m cheap, I can’t bear to throw out any thread out of which I could get a few stitches. I’m a DMC dupe girlie (see “cheap” above) so I buy all the floss needed for several projects at a time from my supplier (Brand CXC on Etsy from shop ObjectBook - fantastic UK based supplier) On arrival when I check the order(what was delivered vs what I ordered) I divide the skeins by number into groups or number ranges putting the skeins in, you’ve guesses it, zip lock bags. This means when I initially kit a project, I look in my bobbins first, then through the unbobbined skeins in zip lock bags. This means that I use up any left over floss first. For all of this the only real cost was the bobbin boxes. I got those from Amazon and was lucky enough that they came with the DMC numbers on sheets of stickers, saved the time in labelling each bobbin. Overall it keeps the supplies of what I’ve actually started in a few tidy boxes and a few zip lock bags. All the rest of my floss stash is in the “master” set of boxes and again more zip lock bags in an old Amazon box. Sorry - this got a bit long winded. My fault for watching this video at 2:30 in the morning. I get a bit punchy. It was either RUclips or online shopping. This is more fiscally responsible!
Zip lock bags. But I only buy floss on a per project basis. I just pull three lengths from the skein and cut as I go. Once a pattern is done, I zip lock bag by color family any leftovers.
I bobbinate, because i don't have the room to floss drops my whole collection, although i don't have all colours yet. I have floss drops for in progress, i need more. I have a tray, which is from packaging, from i don't know what, that i put the bobbins that are needed for in progress, i cut not to much at a time, so hopefully i don't have to put a whole heap of cut threads back on the bobbins. Just started this though
So I'm not a big floss user. But I keep my bobbins and skeins in a clear plastic drawer. I'm currently playing around with when separate the floss wrapping the rest on mini wooden spools about 1 cm tall. I got them in a grab bag of vintage mini things so I cant tell you where to buy them. When I need more bobbins I'll probably diy them so I can make them cute. I can't try the hanging method because I have a naughty cat
Have you, or anyone you know, used floss bows? I found them and the DMC folder pages for them work perfectly for me but I've never seen any videos on them. I like them because you dont have to wind or cut them prior to storing them.
I use my cricut to cut floss drops and then keep them in a Floss Pak in a ring - the zip loc bags keep my floss clean aa a person who sort of just dumps and runs from one project to the next
When you unwind the thread off of those bobbins, it will be wrinkled and you will have to iron it. Your floss storage is great. I tend to use plastic bead bags but it takes more space than your setup.
Love your systems!! For my system, I create a project floss holder out of a 4x6 index card (or half of one), with holes for all the colors, and extras for the blended strands I make up in batches. I use those clear fronted paper cd envelopes for my long term floss storage. They fit neatly in boxes sized for media discs. For a WIP, I sort the envelopes I need into their own open top shoe box for quick access as I work. To trim my floss, I wrap the six strand floss pieces around a 12" wooden ruler, then snip it at one end to create threads with a working length of about 24 inches. I leave the excess bit attached to the last piece, and just tend to use it first for tidiness. My stitching time seems to be about equal parts sorting and preparing floss and stitching, since I count out however many strands I want to use in each stitch and fold the floss in half, then loop it around in a loose circle. A bunch of loose circles store neatly in the envelopes for quick access, which saves me the bother of switching out of stitch mode more often than required. End one thread, begin the next, without too much stress.
I use a totally different way then bobbins or floss drops. I've used floss drops with an kit and I didn't like it. (If I did it your way with hanging them and 1 floss per drop it could work fine I guess) But I use A6+ ziplock bags with a A6 card inside. This means I have the front side with the number written, the lable with color batch on it and the full cut size pieces. On the other side I have my off cuts. I don't like to work with full lengths and then have thousands of off cuts. So I count the amount of stitches I have to do, add 2 and that's the amount off inches I need. Maybe it's a way for someone else 😊
Do you have a master set? Say you have 26 WIPS, do you have multiple floss drops of each color needed for each project for same colors? (Say 10 patterns need 310, do you have 10 floss drops with 310 on it?) One of the things holding me back from trying floss drops is this issue.
Fair question, and it sort of depends. If I know a project will use the whole skein then it makes sense to just get a new one. But for my recent full coverage start for example I've got two rings. One is colours that I kitted up especially, the other is "colours I pilfered from other projects that aren't actively being worked on right now". So I'll know which ones go where when I'm done! Again really only works because I have few on the go at one time 😄 What I COULD do fairly easily (but don't because I'm lazy) is just take off as much as I need and make a second drop for the new project. This was the same problem with bobbins, and yep I was too lazy to do it then too 😅
Hello everyone down here in the comment section ☺️🪡 I was wondering about the following thing. How practical are the floss drops when you’re travelling with your project ? And how would you store them in order to prevent them from getting all tangled? I’m a bobbin girl, because I like to take my projects everywhere with me, I am afraid, that if I were to use the drops, that the strands would get all messy and tangled. I would love to get opinions on that matter, especially because I’m not the most experienced stitcher 🙈
One option when you have all the floss drops on a ring together, is then to loosely plait the hanging threads together. Some people also plait the individual colours on the drops, and there are vids of how easy it is to pull an individual thread out - having all the colours plaited together is basically the same except the drops in the middle of the ring are a bit harder to get to if your plait isn't loose enough. Once they're plaited, tie a spare scrap of thread around the far end, and then put them in a bag or a pocket of a bag where they're not mixing with other objects. Rummaging around in the same pocket for your scissors or thread conditioner will lead to tangles no matter how perfectly contained your threads were at the start.
I'm sure you could! Although you'd want to be careful they don't have any sharp or rough edges that might fray the threads, and I'm not sure the holes would be big enough on the cans we get here but it probably varies by country. People use all sorts of things, I just happened to have a large stash of plain white card :D
I'm setting up a craftroom in my new home and I remembered loving your floss storage solution. I was so excited to see the update, (only not watched because of the 'moving mayhem'!), and was doubly excited to find the spreadsheet solution to recording. I am discovering the amazing things I can do in Excel. Thank you so so much! Enjoy the holiday break 💚
so happy to see a new video from you! I'm a "cheap homemade floss dropper" myself. I actually use the little cardboard bobbins and punch another hole for the floss LOL. I'm not sure what length you're measuring your floss to before cutting, but I don't measure at all..... I fold the entire length of a skein in half 3 times, which gives me, once I cut the loops, 8 one meter lengths. I double them for a loop start of half a meter working thread or cut them in half when using a single strand (rare!). I don't use any sort of measuring device at all LOL. best wishes!
That seems to be what everyone except for me does! Fully accept that I'm the odd one out here, I just can't get past that fear of them not all being the same length 😅
@thegiddystitcher That’s funny because when I watched you measure the floss with that card I thought “oh but what if they don’t come out the same length.” I wish my brain didn’t care.
@@LennyLefebvre-qb6qx I agree. And as for DMC changing the length of thread in a skein, I reckon they'll reorder their numbering system to make sense and hell will freeze over first.
This is amazing. I love how organized you are. I love a good spreadsheet!
Hello, Im a beginner of cross stitching and I have been binge watching your videos for the past week and I love em. I was wondering if you could make a video explaining why sometimes we need to use 3 strings of floss and sometimes 2 (I’ve realized that that’s the most common amounts) and different types of fabric and which projects are suitable for which fabrics. I’ve been having trouble understanding that and just wanted to know if you’d like to make a video about it!
A finer thread or a smaller number of strands covers less fabric, so it's suitable for a higher thread count fabric if you're doing any of the counted thread embroidery styles such as cross stitch, or for making a more detailed image in non-counted embroidery styles. A thicker thread or a larger number of strands covers more fabric, so it works for lower thread count fabrics or less detailed images.
If you compare the number of strands the pattern calls for to the thread count of the fabric you'll see the correlation.
I started using this system several years ago and I love it. I have a dowel rod hanging on 2 command strips. Works great. Although, I need to have mine in numerical order. ☺️ Also, I save my cereal boxes and make my floss drops out of them. I have command strips hanging on my sewing cart to hang my ring of floss for the current project and one for my scissors. ✂️ Thanks for the video. 👍
Add a third small hole to floss drops to hold smaller pieces of floss. Use these smaller pieces first if you want. I add the third hole to all of mine. Keeps things neat and organized.
I so enjoy your videos! Your quirky sense of humour resonates totally!
hi michelle, a crazy thought : have you considered pre-making a dozen / making a dozen extra while already making floss drops? if you have room in your bobbin box they can be all neatly stored right at the floss station...
Another plus of having the floss drops hanging is the inspiration it might give. I love to embroider with thin linnen "Yarn" and have them on a large metall ring on a hook. And since they are thrifted I don't care to number them but hang them one by one in color.
Instead of having to get our cardboard for winding the floss, you can pull the whole skein of floss loose, and then join the two ends together and fold in half until you get the length you need and cut the loops! Makes it go so much faster then trying to wind it consistently on a piece of paper!
This is what I came here to say, and I’m so glad someone said it a month ago. When I switched to floss drops 4 years ago, I tried winding them around a piece of cardboard. It was ridiculous because 8m skeins aren’t always 6m and I had these tails to deal with. Some of floss lengths were much longer or shorter than others. So I did a little math and realized that those ~8m skeins will yield ~1m lengths by simply folding the floss. What a time saver!
Welcome to the drops-forever club!! =) granted I bought mine but ya. . . Never going back. Ever.
Omgosh. . . That bit about the scrap floss? Inspired! Why did I never think of that!! I always just stubbornly use the scrap piece regardless of practicality on the next pull of that color. Why oh why have I bot consosdered just holding onto the scraps till I need a smaller bit?!? It's not like they are gling anywhere. . .
Honestly some of the scraps from the original batch are still sitting there unused, but I know one day they'll come in handy and save me raging out and the peace of mind is worth it :D
Absolutely, I will never go back either. X
Thanks for this fun video Michelle ❤. Bobbins work for me. I have 2 boxes of DMC threads in number order and, yes, it is bit of a journey moving them all on to fit new ones in 😂, but I dont mind! My 3rd box contains other brands and hand dyed threads kept together by brand as there's not many of each. I do have a little bobbin winder gadget that clips to the storage box which helps! Happy stitching!
I have experimented with floss drops myself and I absolutely love them! Never going back! I have used the little gift tags to make mine and I have also made floss drops using index cards. I think I like my index card ones more. I just stamp holes into the index cards one at the top for the metal ring and three big holes near the bottom for the floss I also stamp three small holes one beside the bigger holes to hold the extra smaller floss that can still be used.
When you do have the floss drop supplies out, make a bunch extra and store them in a small bin or something. Then you only have to mark the colour number and load the floss.
I JUST FINALLY put all the floss I own on bobbins and now I’m so tempted to use drops! 🥹
Floss drops do not leave kinks in your floss. I have even tried ironing the kinked floss before use; let's just say unsuccessful:=(
That whole process was weirdly soothing to my nervous system! I love everything about it, it just makes sense! I would definitely switch to this system if I did more cross stitch. And that spreadsheet is beautiful! 😍
Floss drops forever! Seriously, especially for us loop starters it just makes EVERYTHING easier. Currently my 100ish color DMC collection lives on some cheap acrylic drops I bought off Amazon and put some handwritten labels on. The ones not kitted up hang on an S hook meant for belts in my closet. But as my collection expands I’ve been drooling over the fancy schmancy pip and chip ones and the tidy ikea box inserts for them. Sooo pretty!
But being another never do anything by halves person I’d want the entire set and I’d also probably feel compelled to go fill all the drops too. So that’s going to have to wait for a time I have roughly $500 USD to throw at it.
Still though, even then, I expect I’ll keep using the cheap floss drops for the off brand small stamped kits I keep in my “emergency to go project bag.” Basically a small ish stamped project I keep in a separate project bag all kitted up with separate tools etc so I can toss it in my tote bag on the way out the door without a second thought on those days when I expect I’ll have some waiting around to do or time to kill but I don’t know that I’ll have time/space/brain power for a more involved project. I won’t rekit those in DMC and you’ll make yourself nuts trying to find equivalent colors anyway. So I just use the number they give it within the kit on the label to reduce even more brain use.
Though I do have a friend who’s brother built her a floss drop cabinet with hooks for rings like you have, kind of an oversized shadow box thing that has UV protective archival glass on the front. So she can display all her floss but not worry about dust or fading. Which is pretty cool.
Oh that friend's setup sounds excellent! Love the idea of the stamped projects for your "waiting around" project, usually I've got a knitted sock on the go to fill that particular void.
Those Pip and Chip ones look sooooo good, but yeah it was quite the realisation of how much they would end up costing. Maybe when I'm rich and famous...
@ Isn’t that the truth. Other people would buy fancy cars or vacation homes if they were rich and famous. Crafters dream of building gorgeous crafting spaces and stash palaces full of everything we could dream of using.
Thanks for the update - I also prefer floss drops. It's so much easier to pull one thread and then to also save bits that are long enough to still use. I also use the same spreadsheet and added a one-word name for which project it's in (I'm currently working on 24 WIPs). When there's multiples it just has lots of words next to it. It works really well. I added another sheet for fancy floss (since I don't have lots of those)
I also have a spreadsheet for my floss. But im a bobbin girl. Even if i did find a place to hang my threads, i just can't imagine all the dust and cat fur they'd pick up! Also, can't imagine said cats not playing with them and creating the biggest knot known to mankind! For wips i use knitting stitch holders to hold all the relevant bobbins. I have just about every size stitch holder to suit how many colours each wip needs. Once im finished with a colour (im also a one colour at a time girl) I put it back in the box. I also have a spread sheet to print my numbers which i cover with clear sticky tape to attach (and glue, but the sticky tape appears to do most of the actual sticking!) to the bobbins, and i have (new) where dmc have changed the dye since 30 odd years ago, or where I can visually see a difference.
My craft room has a desk with a file drawer. I hang my floss drops in there. It's compact and keeps the floss out of the elements.
Yeah if you have cats, your embroidery supplies need to be kept safe from the cats. Inside a cupboard or cabinet or box or _something_.
I do a hybrid floss drop/bobbin style system that I LOVE. I got an $11 heavy duty hole punch and put holes in my plastic DMC bobbins. Then do the floss drop thing but when I go to store them, I wrap them around the bobbin and put them in a box. With three shedding dogs who get into everything, and the ick factor of the drops' thread not being protected from tangling (even though that doesn't seem to be a problem for most people), it's worked well for me and my brain. I also only do blackwork embroidery at this point so my need for vast color selections is limited and I don't need to kit up a ton of colors to switch between, so YMMV.
I just switched to drops and honestly the difference in just being able to grab my colours and be ready to go in a couple minutes is a huge game changer (I printed the bobbins on my 3d printer).
100%! Down with faff, that's my motto. I did consider 3d printing for mine but we only have a resin printer and it can be pretty finicky, you know where you are with plain white cardboard 😅
LOVE Reviews….. and this could be done for so many of Your diversified projects….. PROCRASTINATION does allow the brain to rest a bit (like negative space) thinking out alternative possibilities for success …….the color array of FLOSS in the background is so welcoming plus it is almost-signature Branding when hosting Your videos from that location….Have a warm and peaceful weekend Dear….
Thank you so much Sherry, have a wonderful weekend yourself!
Thank you for the update! The floss drops always look so.. tasty in your backdrop.
Personally I'm a bobbin user, mostly because they're more space efficient and I have too many craft supplies.
As for "apps" - I use Thread Stash for my organization. It's a website so you can use it for both your phone and on your laptop, AND you can assign colors to projects and see what you're missing. Very useful!
Data nerds assemble!!
Bobbins served me well for a few years, I certainly don't dislike them! They're just such a faff to actually use, by comparison, so I'll continue to make space for hanging the drops and save shelf space by crushing a load of fabric into storage cubes instead 😅
@@AModNamedMel used to use thread stash app but now use notion. We set up our own database to assign to projects while also interacting with our stitch logs. Also O share this with my sister as we track at the same time
@@TheGiddyStitcher if its stored, its stored! .. and storage cubes are absolutely good enough for fabric
@@tntori5079 I used to use notion, but after they started integrating ai-features, I didnt feel like my data was safe there anymore (they say they dont collect data, but well. we know how that usually goes)
Their database features are sooo nice though....
Great system, thanks for sharing! I can’t see why some people love bobbins…they drive me crazy 😂😂😂
your original video is what inspired me to switch over completely and i'm so pleased with floss drops, so thank you for that! i did end up buying the fancy acrylic ones after some experimenting. i don't know if i'm just overly aggressive but the card would start tearing after a while and i figured at a certain point i'd spend the same amount on replacing them so i gave in. also: i sort on rings by color as well. i have a spreadsheet to keep track of the colors i have and which ring it lives on. because you're right: it's pretty :)
LOVE spreadsheets. Thanks for the link. First time watching you. Enjoyed your narration.
Thank you for a fun video! It looks like you had a good time in Canada!
Thanks! Fun, clear, and helpful as always!
I also make my own floss drops. I love 'em!
I put each on a little ring. I put about 12 to 20 on a big ring. Then in my closet (which is now half craft space) I have hangers with lsrge holes, like for scarves and I clip the big rings through. It is like your system except that #1 each drop is on a small ring, so when kitting, it is easily removeable to add to a big project ring and #2 I arrange DMC numerically. I arrange floss by other makers (mostly overdyes) on separate hangers and by color. I have a few of a few threads (silk, Flower, pearl, Anchor) in a drawer of little sewing box. All the rings are a bit weighty, but access is simple...snap off rings of floss needed without removing the big ring. If a project has more than 6 or 8 colors, I have begun to move floss, once kitted up, off rings and onto a (homemade) thread keeper thing (flat piece of some thin but sturdy material with multiple holes). This may make it easier to see the colors than when hanging on the ring, and lighter, and maybe w less tending to snarl in storage or transport bags.
My old bobbin boxes hold duplicate or replacement thread, either on old bobbins still or still in a skein sorta folded up into the little compartment
I have an Excel spreadsheet but I am still rather manual and print out copies that I pencil notes on. And I don't do a good job of that so I dont always know WHERE some color is , but the spreadsheet sent to my phone has helped prevent purchase of colors I already own!
Glad your system is working for you. I don't use floss drops much. I have some of my floss in bobbins and have added some to it but its mainly what I had from when I stitched before. When kitting up projects I put the skein of floss in floss away bags on a ring. My stash of Dmc are in either a plastic storage system in drawers by number or some of them are in a wooden art drawer cabinet. I use the Lord Libidian tracker to keep track of my stash but not what's in my bobbin boxes or kitted. Take care Michelle
Thank you for the spreadsheet! I'm going to give that a go 👍🏻
You're very welcome :) It's a long time since I downloaded it and made my changes so there may be new features in the latest version, but the main thing is just having a good starting point with all the numbers already in there!
Looks like an amazing system. Thanks for elaborating on it.
Will keep mine in a box as cross stitch is not my favorite hobby.
Floss drops are a must have. And precut floss chefs kiss.
I spent the last 4ish years collecting acrylic floss drop bobbins because I didn’t have a place other than bins to sort them.
Something I did for the in between is taking the dmc cardboard bobbins and using a circle punch to take a bit out of the middle. It’s not exactly pretty, but it works.
I track my floss in a spreadsheet too 🤓 I have 3 locations as well. My main bins where i can get floss for projects (I put them on project thread organizers) and then I have two locations for my extra floss. I have a drawer of brand new skeins and old boxes of skeins out on cardboard bobbins some precut and some not 🤷♀️
I’d love to display my floss because you’re right, it’s pretty to look at, but it just isn’t possible right now.
Spreadsheets are life! Preach! Although I'm a Notion girl but I feel it the same!
I'm one of those people who have been inspired to use floss drops to organize my threads.
However, I don't have the issue of number vs color organization b/c I don't use designed patterns, I'm a 'free-style' embroiderer. I purchased the floss drops on Etsy. They are little 'hangers' so I can just hook it over a dowel and not put it on a ring.
we're in the midst of renovating my studio space, so I haven't used the things yet. I am SO looking forward to putting all my threads away, into a beautiful cabinet I thrifted a few years ago.
I love the bobbin system but liked the floss drops too. I kept the bobbin system in ikea drawers. ALL of my flosses have one bobbin in my drawers…every brand. I used a small rubber bin (s) with envelopes for my cut lengths of threads and they sit on top of drawer unit. Most effective for storage and space limitations .
The way I simply fell off my chair in complete shock when you revealed you use a spreadsheet...
Ikr, so unlike me
@@TheGiddyStitcher I feel like I don't even know who you are anymore.
I also use a spreadsheet. I think I got my original from the DMC website. Love this method, as I usually have a long-term project as well as small ones going on.
I am a floss drop gal as well. I do store extra full skeins in snack bags in a set of dresser drawers, properly divided and labeled of course😉😂. I have a generic drop for each color and when I finish a project, the extra goes on the drop and is kept in the bag with the extra skeins (I am a completionist at heart and I have at least one skein of every DMC color... just in case, lol). I really would love to hang them up so I can look at them and be happy but, alas, I don't have anywhere to do so. I love making floss drops specific to each of my larger projects plus I have seasonal ones and "just because the print was pretty" ones. I track my floss on spreadsheets which I print out as a blank form and then fill in with pencil or Frixion pens if I am color coding.
Wait - I was just watching the reveal and left a comment asking for an update, and here it is in my recommendeds? Okay then
Haha, excellent timing!
If I were to do floss drops for all my storage (currently use snack size zip bags ordered by number), I’d definitely sort by number, though your way is definitely more aesthetically pleasing.
Suggestion: next time you’re making more floss drops, make several dozen extra to have on hand for a time??😉
Haha, I do try! All that hole punching gets sore after a while 😅
Bobbins for me, mostly due to having no place to hang up the floss. As for current projects - I have several ‘extra’ bobbin boxes, so I just put the whole bobbin into the kit box in numerical order. The. I put a note somewhere in the box (usually on a post it) with the name of the project. The box can hold a small pair of embroidery scissors on top of the bobbins so I have everything I need. I only have one bobbin per colour and I keep any additional skeins needed for a project in a zip lock bag again marked inside by a post it. This means that the bags are reusable at the completed a project. I use the smaller hole on the bobbin to hold any leftover thread when I finish the section I’m working on. I’m cheap, I can’t bear to throw out any thread out of which I could get a few stitches.
I’m a DMC dupe girlie (see “cheap” above) so I buy all the floss needed for several projects at a time from my supplier (Brand CXC on Etsy from shop ObjectBook - fantastic UK based supplier) On arrival when I check the order(what was delivered vs what I ordered) I divide the skeins by number into groups or number ranges putting the skeins in, you’ve guesses it, zip lock bags. This means when I initially kit a project, I look in my bobbins first, then through the unbobbined skeins in zip lock bags. This means that I use up any left over floss first.
For all of this the only real cost was the bobbin boxes. I got those from Amazon and was lucky enough that they came with the DMC numbers on sheets of stickers, saved the time in labelling each bobbin. Overall it keeps the supplies of what I’ve actually started in a few tidy boxes and a few zip lock bags. All the rest of my floss stash is in the “master” set of boxes and again more zip lock bags in an old Amazon box.
Sorry - this got a bit long winded. My fault for watching this video at 2:30 in the morning. I get a bit punchy. It was either RUclips or online shopping. This is more fiscally responsible!
Zip lock bags. But I only buy floss on a per project basis. I just pull three lengths from the skein and cut as I go. Once a pattern is done, I zip lock bag by color family any leftovers.
I bobbinate, because i don't have the room to floss drops my whole collection, although i don't have all colours yet. I have floss drops for in progress, i need more. I have a tray, which is from packaging, from i don't know what, that i put the bobbins that are needed for in progress, i cut not to much at a time, so hopefully i don't have to put a whole heap of cut threads back on the bobbins. Just started this though
So I'm not a big floss user. But I keep my bobbins and skeins in a clear plastic drawer. I'm currently playing around with when separate the floss wrapping the rest on mini wooden spools about 1 cm tall. I got them in a grab bag of vintage mini things so I cant tell you where to buy them. When I need more bobbins I'll probably diy them so I can make them cute. I can't try the hanging method because I have a naughty cat
Have you, or anyone you know, used floss bows? I found them and the DMC folder pages for them work perfectly for me but I've never seen any videos on them. I like them because you dont have to wind or cut them prior to storing them.
Use a paper hole puncher on the side for the loose strands 😂
I use my cricut to cut floss drops and then keep them in a Floss Pak in a ring - the zip loc bags keep my floss clean aa a person who sort of just dumps and runs from one project to the next
When you unwind the thread off of those bobbins, it will be wrinkled and you will have to iron it. Your floss storage is great. I tend to use plastic bead bags but it takes more space than your setup.
Love your systems!! For my system, I create a project floss holder out of a 4x6 index card (or half of one), with holes for all the colors, and extras for the blended strands I make up in batches. I use those clear fronted paper cd envelopes for my long term floss storage. They fit neatly in boxes sized for media discs. For a WIP, I sort the envelopes I need into their own open top shoe box for quick access as I work. To trim my floss, I wrap the six strand floss pieces around a 12" wooden ruler, then snip it at one end to create threads with a working length of about 24 inches. I leave the excess bit attached to the last piece, and just tend to use it first for tidiness. My stitching time seems to be about equal parts sorting and preparing floss and stitching, since I count out however many strands I want to use in each stitch and fold the floss in half, then loop it around in a loose circle. A bunch of loose circles store neatly in the envelopes for quick access, which saves me the bother of switching out of stitch mode more often than required. End one thread, begin the next, without too much stress.
I like floss bags
Do you find that the floss gets all wrinkly-inkly in the spots it’s tied around the bobbin?
I use a totally different way then bobbins or floss drops. I've used floss drops with an kit and I didn't like it. (If I did it your way with hanging them and 1 floss per drop it could work fine I guess)
But
I use A6+ ziplock bags with a A6 card inside. This means I have the front side with the number written, the lable with color batch on it and the full cut size pieces. On the other side I have my off cuts.
I don't like to work with full lengths and then have thousands of off cuts. So I count the amount of stitches I have to do, add 2 and that's the amount off inches I need.
Maybe it's a way for someone else 😊
Do you have a master set? Say you have 26 WIPS, do you have multiple floss drops of each color needed for each project for same colors? (Say 10 patterns need 310, do you have 10 floss drops with 310 on it?) One of the things holding me back from trying floss drops is this issue.
Fair question, and it sort of depends. If I know a project will use the whole skein then it makes sense to just get a new one. But for my recent full coverage start for example I've got two rings. One is colours that I kitted up especially, the other is "colours I pilfered from other projects that aren't actively being worked on right now". So I'll know which ones go where when I'm done! Again really only works because I have few on the go at one time 😄
What I COULD do fairly easily (but don't because I'm lazy) is just take off as much as I need and make a second drop for the new project. This was the same problem with bobbins, and yep I was too lazy to do it then too 😅
You definitely do not have a cat in your home. Enjoyed your video.
You're not wrong 😄
The only downside I’d have is that I like having portable floss.. I like bringing cross stitch out
Hello everyone down here in the comment section ☺️🪡
I was wondering about the following thing.
How practical are the floss drops when you’re travelling with your project ? And how would you store them in order to prevent them from getting all tangled?
I’m a bobbin girl, because I like to take my projects everywhere with me, I am afraid, that if I were to use the drops, that the strands would get all messy and tangled.
I would love to get opinions on that matter, especially because I’m not the most experienced stitcher 🙈
One option when you have all the floss drops on a ring together, is then to loosely plait the hanging threads together. Some people also plait the individual colours on the drops, and there are vids of how easy it is to pull an individual thread out - having all the colours plaited together is basically the same except the drops in the middle of the ring are a bit harder to get to if your plait isn't loose enough.
Once they're plaited, tie a spare scrap of thread around the far end, and then put them in a bag or a pocket of a bag where they're not mixing with other objects. Rummaging around in the same pocket for your scissors or thread conditioner will lead to tangles no matter how perfectly contained your threads were at the start.
Looking at the shape…couldn’t you use soda can tabs?
I'm sure you could! Although you'd want to be careful they don't have any sharp or rough edges that might fray the threads, and I'm not sure the holes would be big enough on the cans we get here but it probably varies by country. People use all sorts of things, I just happened to have a large stash of plain white card :D
im so early!! yay:D
Haha, very well done :D