My first experience with floss was a tangled up mess of embroidery thread in my mother’s sewing basket. I can still remember sitting on the floor and patiently untangling the blue and pink colors so I could “sew” my first cross stitch piece. I don’t remember how I stored those, but there were only two colors so it wasn’t hard to keep track, lol.
After I really got “into” stitching during the 80’s, it was popular (at least according to the magazines) to store floss on bobbins. I bought a bobbin winder, and never looked back. I stored my DMC in the large bobbin cases. At one time I had ELEVEN boxes!
Several years ago, I learned about the "Jammer" cases, which are storage cases for matchbox and hot wheels cars. I don't think the brand exists anymore, but there are similar generic cases on the market. Walmart carries them from time to time. Don't use Ebay -- they're a small fortune on there!
On the left are two cases I store my DMC. Some stitchers have been able to get all the colors in one box, but I wasn't able to do it. Maybe their floss bobbins weren't entirely full... dunno. On the right are duplicate DMC wound on bobbins left over from the 11 original cases.*
I have a bunch of DMC still in skein form that I list on my Stash-For-Sale blog. I keep them in gallon size ziploc bags, organized by 100's. All the bags are kept in a laundry basket.
Almost forgot, I do have some DMC on large plastic bobbins. I think they came in a box from a Freecycler. Anyone use these? The anal side of me is seriously considering re-winding them onto regular sized bobbins.
I also have a bunch of DMC floss on a different type of bobbin that came in a plastic case. I bought this off eBay *years* ago. It has practically all the colors, and it's my "go to" box when I'm stitching ornaments or other small projects.
On to Specialty Floss....
I store my Rainbow Gallery threads in an awesome embossed tin I found at a thrift store. I made a simple cardboard divider to keep the threads organized. Works perfectly!
Krenik spools (Yeah, I know *ewww*) are stored in Plano 20 gauge shotgun shell cases. These can be found at almost any store that sells sporting goods. I keep VFB in one, and all the other types in the other.
The different brands of hand-dyed/over-dyed floss (GAST, Carries, SSS, Clayton, etc) are stored in gallon size ziploc bags according to manufacturer.
I organized some even farther by putting the floss in quart size ziploc bags alphabetically (A-D, E-J, K-M, etc). Inside each gallon bag is the checklist (from the manufacturer website) of colors available. I have a checkmark beside the ones I have, so I know at a glance and don't have to go digging through the bag only to come up empty handed!
DMC Light Effects are kept in a fishing tackle box. (They are such a pain to work with!)
When I am working on projects, I keep the floss for my projects in a smaller bobbin box. Since I only work on 2-3 projects at a time, all the bobbins will usually fit in my yellow box (JG has it's own box).
So now, how do YOU store your floss? Put an entry on your blog how you do it (with photos), and comment to let me know you blogged about it, and I'll throw your name in a drawing for a stashy prize. :) I will draw a name the old fashioned way: Little pieces of paper in a bowl... on the 18th.
*Believe it or not, with all the DMC I have, I actually ran out of two colors while working on TMQ!
