Sometimes – often, in fact – as you embroider, you’ll be faced with the dilemma of swapping out an old thread for a new thread midstream – that is, when you’re in the middle of a line of stitching.

Lately, I’ve received several questions about changing threads in the middle of embroidery – when to switch to a new thread, should I switch to a new thread, how do I switch to a new thread, and so forth. I think the topic was prompted when folks were reading about floche, because it’s a thread that works best with slightly shorter stitching lengths.

Guess what?! This is a subject we’ve covered a few times here on Needle ‘n Thread. So let’s talk about it, and then I’ll show you some examples. I think that, if you see how it’s done on a few stitches, you’ll get the hang of it for any stitch.

The velvet arrived for the altar cover that we’ve been working on here in the studio. It’s … whoa. So pretty!

I like blue and gold together. I like blue and silver together, too, but I really love blue and gold. There’s something extraordinarily regal about it.

Just so you can get an idea of where we’re going with the goldwork project that I’ve been covering here on the blog, today I’ll show you the velvet and then share some thoughts that were prompted by comments and questions from recent articles on the goldwork project I’m working on.

Incidentally, before we jump into that, I apologize for missing you on Monday. Four things happened: 1. we launched these new products, including colored linen sampler packs, Cohana scissors (which sold out), and some favorite needles; 2. I had a problem with my shipping app (of all days!); 3. I had an external disk drive problem (of all days!); and 4. We got in several shipments of things over the weekend that didn’t fit anywhere and had to be sorted out so we could actually breathe and move. It was a crazy morning! Something had to give, and unfortunately, it was a blog post that was supposed to be edited and published first thing.

But enough of that! Let’s talk about goldwork!

Thanks to all who purchased the Garden-Bright floche thread pack last week!

I was really excited to get those launched, and from the feedback so far, I’m glad to hear you’re as enthusiastic as I am about the threads! We have more floche winging its way to us right now, and we’ll be restocking those packs as soon as possible.

I’ve received a few questions about floche since launching the thread packs, so I’m going to revisit the thread here with a few little tips.

I’ve written so much about this thread already, though, that I’m pretty sure most questions you’d have about it are already available here, in-depth, on the website. Feel free to use the link at the end of this article to explore the thread in more depth.

OH my word.

It’s a funny thing about goldwork: You feel like you’re really making headway, that you’re flying along, that things are going so much faster than you anticipated – in short, you’re feelin’ pretty darned good about all that endless couching…

…and then suddenly you remember:

You have to plunge!

A project that we’ve been working on for a while here in the studio is putting together some glorious thread packs of cotton floche.

Cotton floche is one of my favorite hand embroidery threads, and I want to do my bit to give people the opportunity to stitch with it. To that end, we’ve gathered together a collection of what I call Garden-Bright Colors into a new offering available now in my shop.

If you have always wanted to try floche, or if you are already a tried-and-true lover of floche thread but hesitant to invest in full hanks, these floche packs are a great way to start a collection of the thread for use in multiple projects.