allow me to ellaborate...splitability refers to dmc embroidery thread/floss. dmc is actually 6 little threads that are twisted together to make one big thread. i much prefer the look of thin, clean stitches...i discovered, after many chunky handstitched layouts that you can split the floss...sounds tedious right? not really.
first, lets talk about splitting floss...it's super easy most of the time, lol. i start off with what i'm sewing...if it's very detailed or intricate, i usually lean toward a smaller number of strands (2 is my favorite) if it's a straight line or a large basic shape, i'll go with a higher number of strands (4 at the most for me...it's just my preference). i cut a piece of floss (i've found that it's easier and much more manageable- and less knotty- if i work with about a 1 1/2 to 2 foot length of thread) and choose one end to split...spread the thread with your fingers a bit to loosen the strands and then S-L-O-W-L-Y pull them apart. i tend to hold the thread up so that it's not touching anything to start with...it'll coil up (if you keep pulling during the coiling you'll get a huge knotty mess) and when it does if you lay the end that you're not pulling from over fabric (i use my jeans) and pull just a bit it'll straighten it out enough to separate the strands completely. serioulsy though, it sounds so much more involved than it is...try it and see.
NOTE: i've tried to separate the strands using bazzill's embroidery floss (their's has 8 strands)...and it doesn't work. bazzill floss is braided together and i could only split about an inch of floss before knotting profusely and saying lots of curse-words...not a proud moment for sure.
so, in order to demonstrate my theorys on dmc splitting, i've made some examples (pay close attention to the thickness as well as the detail)...i scanned the demo stitchwork first to show the thickness and the next image is a photo i took to demonstrate the texture difference. each letter is sewn using a different number of strands (i numbered each letter so the 'k' with a 1 underneath means it was 1 strand...)
(i uploaded the above image in a larger size so if you click on it, you can view it larger and closer)
so...which number of strands do you prefer? i'm kinda digging on the single strand myself...which is surprising to me because i've been stitching with 2 strands the most.
a couple of things about the different number of strands (note: i used the same embroidery needle for all numbers. the reason for this: to keep the holes the same-ish size so that the difference is more apparent)...
1 strand- it's a little more intense getting a single strand of the floss to separate from the 'pack' hahaha...we had to have a little talk but we managed to work out our differences, lol. it's also a good idea to pierce lightly so that the holes are a little smaller. with the thread being so small, the holes are much more obvious and apparent. a single strand looks way more similar to machine stitching to me too :] it'd look super cute on a zig zag stitch.
2 strands- my go to number...i like that you can do both detailed and larger shapes using 2 strands, and maintain the appearance of a 'clean and neat' stitch while showing a bit of texture too.
3 strands- fairly similar to 2 strands...i've found that 3 is harder for me to thread through my needles though.
4 strands- pretty thick...super cute if you want to add an organic, almost child-like appearance to your project.
5 & 6 strands- super super thick (keep in mind, these are just my opinions and preferences at work here). it's really challenging to thread through both the eye of the needle and the paper itself. i'm pretty sure this is the first time i've stitched through paper on a 'project' using more than 4 strands (back in the day, when i first started stitching i used 4).
as previously mentioned...this isn't a homework/ assignment type of blog tutorial, but...haha...i do encourage you to try a few stitches using a couple of different strand numbers and pay particular attention to the backside of your paper or cardstock. the higher the number of strands, the more bulky the backside will be (giggling at 'backside')...this isn't necessarily important for layouts but it does come into play when i'm sewing something to be adhered to a page or mini album. just something to think about :]
ps. i know that this post is coming at you kinda late in the day...my apologies for that friends! i had camera battery issues (translation: i didn't charge it. tucking my tail between my legs as we speak, lol.)
pps. i am having a blast and getting tons of ideas from your comments on the giveaway post...so nice to meet you guys! i'm thinking of maybe doing a bonus post this weekend to cover some of the things y'all mention in your responses...thoughts?
ppps. i'm going to try my darndest to get caught up on today's posts...dinner and homework and various other mom duties might push the posting time back a smidge...so look for a post later tonight :]
pppps. that's alot of ps's...just wanted to add a *HUGE* thank you to everyone for their patience with my hairbrained-ness. maybe by friday i'll get it together? hahaha, i kid. i kid.
