How to Organize Embroidery Floss Thread

As part of my New Year's resolution to become more organized, I decided that I was going to find a way to prevent those huge balls of tangled embroidery floss. I went on to Amazon and purchased a few skeins of Embroidery Floss I ran out of, plus some bobbins and some other supplies I was going to need for this project. First I bought a couple of packs of DMC embroidery floss bobbins in which I can wrap the floss around to prevent the tangled mess. They came in two different forms: plastic (28 pack) and cardboard (56 pack). Here are the links if you would like to purchase some for yourself.

DMC Plastic Floss Bobbins-28/Pkg

DMC Cardboard Floss Bobbins-56/Pkg

To help make winding the embroidery floss on to each bobbin I used a bobbin winder.

Bobbin Winder

To help me to identify what the color number of the embroidery floss was on each bobbin, I bought a pack of floss number stickers. If you are using the cardboard bobbins you can just write the color number in. However, with the plastic bobbins the ink smudges right off.

DMC 6103 Floss Number Stickers, 640-Stickers

Finally, I bought the floss organizer to hold the bobbins when they are ready to be stored.

You can find the Box of 50 Plastic Bobbins Floss and Needlecraft Organizer on Amazon.

If you want to be frugal, today I came across some really cute free printable bobbins at Wild Olive. I am soooo excited! Now all I have to do is print them out on some white card stock {regular paper would be to flimsy}, and I have some additional bobbins without having to run to the craft store. Also, they have a cute design on them, unlike the regular white bobbins I usually get. The PDF printable has a total of 20 embroidery floss thread bobbins per a sheet. I downloaded and printed out a few sheets, so you could take a peek at what some of them look like.....

Floss Bobbins printable belong to Wild Olive

In this picture is the both the cardboard and plastic bobbins along with the floss number stickers.

Its time to get down to business, and get this organizing project completed. We are going to start by labeling the bobbins with the coordinating color number. Therefore, you need the floss number labels, all the floss skeins to be filed, and which ever bobbins you decided to use {plastic, cardboard or printable bobbins from Wild Olive}. I decided that I will be using the plastic bobbins. First you take one skein of Embroidery Floss. Then we need to locate the color number on the skein of thread.

Once you have found the color number, find the floss label with that same number.

Next you want to take that sticker and place it on the bobbin you are going to use. In the top right hand corner of the bobbin there is a spot that say No.________ .Now if you are using the printable or cardboard bobbins you can either use the sticker labels or just write the number on it. However, with the plastic bobbins I wouldn't recommend writing on it, as it will just smudge off.

Once you have label the bobbin wrap the color skein around the bobbin and tuck the end into one of the slots at the bottom of the bobbin. This will prevent it from unraveling.

Now just continue these steps until all of you skeins of embroidery floss are wrapped on a bobbin and labeled. Finally, you want to put all the bobbins into the organizer. 

Once all the bobbins are in the organizer, close the container. If you would like, you can label the container like I did with my DYMO label maker.

You are done! Now I realize it sounds easy. However, when you have one hundred + skeins of thread it is somewhat time consuming. But it is so worth it at the end. I have wasted tons of embroidery floss just because it was so tangled together. Now when someone asks for a certain color scheme, I can easily find the colors. Also, by having them labeled you know exactly what you are looking for when you go to the craft store. No more guessing which shade of green you need when there are twenty similar shades.

Finally, before you go to the craft store there are two things that can help you remember what colors numbers you need. First, I found a printable DMC Shoppers List on the DMC website. You can just check off what colors you need and how many. You can also find conversion charts on the same page. 

Image from dmc-usa.com

Next if you have an android phone, there is an app called Floss Checklist in which you can keep track of what colors you have, and what you need. This app cost $1.00 to download, but to me saves time and energy.

Image belongs to OpeWare

Thank you for following along on this project. I hope you found it helpful!!

Happy Crafting,

Jenn  =)


Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. This means make a small commission for any purchases you make through these links. The profits I receive helps me to pay for the costs of running this website.