Full set of DMC threads

[Nicola Main]

Been thinking about splashing out and investing in a complete set of DMC threads. It is my birthday on the 24th so I could maybe go halfies with my parents. Have found this site which apparently has the whole lot of 447 colours for just £145. Do you think that it would be genuine or should I be skeptical? http://www.leisurecraft-tewkesbury.com/ ... 47-colours" target="_blank

Do any of you have the full set and where did you buy them if you did?

[Allyn]

I don't know what you're used to paying over there for DMC. Without any special deals -- just walking in the store and buying 447 individual skeins of DMC -- I would pay as low as $147 USD. That would be about 98 GBP. 147 GBP works out to be 50 cents a skein for me here. That's outrageously expensive, BUT.....I don't know what you're used to paying there for it.

I don't think I have a whole set. If I do, it's not intentional. I just buy what I need. Thirty-some years ago I was excited to have a complete set of colors and now there are quite a few skeins that I never touched. Having a complete set just to have it has lost its charm for me when I see the number of unused skeins sitting in my stash box. I guess I'm a lot more pragmatic than I used to be.

[Lizzieh]

That's a good price over here and they are a very respectable long-standing firm. Go for it.

[Arianwen]

@ Allyn - I bought some DMC threads last week in my local LNS and I paid 96p per skein - its normal to pay between about 75p and just over £1 here for a single skein - crazy. You can get them much cheaper online.

@Nicola - I cant comment on that site as I have never used them but I know Donna at Cross stitch heaven does a full set of DMC threads for £170, then you have postage. I know its a bit more expensive but I have used her before. She is very good but it can take a couple of weeks for the order to come through as she has such a high volume of orders.

I don't have a full set of DMC yet. I save up and buy a batch of about 50 skeins at a time, unless I need specific colours for a project. I have got a full set of Anchor already - I'm a bit of a collector. I buy all my threads from Donna now, though I used to use another online company that is now in the process of closing down and selling off stock. I bought what I needed from what they had, and I'm hoping they wont run out of the DMC satins before I can afford them - I have a couple and they are just gorgeous

[lillybit]

I struggle to understand why owning a full set is so important. I'm possibly getting close but it has taken many years of buying just what I need and when I need it. Already it is clear that there are areas that I've never needed so never bought.

[cairee]

I dont have a full set. I dont see the point. I just buy what i need for the projects Im working on. once I bought the entire Anchor set, I now have dozens of unused anchor skeins that are just taking up space.

[Brekkana]

Having finished organizing my threads and seeing how many empties I have, I fear I am OCD enough to have have at least one of each ... will probably pick some up next visit to Hobby Lobby ...

[Rose]

I have the whole set of DMC and I am glad that I do. I guess for me I like to have the option of all the colors to choose from when I make changes to patterns that I am working on. I have very few patterns that I stitch the exact colors that they call for. I am happy to be able to look at the whole range to make my shading look right. I would say there are less then a dozen colors that I have not used over the years.

I think if you really want to have the set and it is a good price and you can afford it then you should make the purchase.

[NeedleAndFork]

I own a full set. I didn't start out intending to buy the full set, I bought what I needed for the first HAED I started and the next one I wanted to do. I had to order them online because I live in a small town and walmart is my LNS - they carry about 100 colors only and are always out of stock of about 1/3 of them. That worked for a while, I could sub out colors when I was making ornaments, but it got to where I was subbing constantly and it was driving me nuts. That's when I decided to go ahead and build up my collection so I have a skein of each color. It took me a while to do it, buying $20 worth here and there when I was in a city that had a joanns but I'm glad I did. Now I know I can work on anythiing I want to and not have to sub things out. For me it was about practicallity - since I can't get the floss locally, I'd have to order online, and it's just not practical to order 3 colors online that were missing from my next project and pay shipping. What I would end up spending in shipping is better spent buying more floss! Now I know I can start any project I want, even a large HAED type.. and only buy more floss if a large quantity is needed. I keep all my floss in a single master set, and pull single lengths of colors onto my working project cards instead of having a set for each project.

[Nicola Main]

Thank you so much for all your replies and advice

I have bought threads from Cross Stitch Heaven before (in fact waiting on a delivery so I can finish a birthday card) and she is 39p each. I calculated it up and 39p x 447 is £174.33 (not including postage costs). I think, yes, it's a bit of an impulse buy, not an absolute necessity, it would just be great to have the full set and know that I can start on any project and have the whole set of colours I'd need. To have it in a lovely presentation box would also save on storage space (I've noticed some sites are selling the whole set but with the skeins in bags which would be a nightmare to store). It doesn't help that where I have all of my cross stitch is also the room where my rabbit lives (yes she has her own room! ), where my books are kept and where my laptop and printer are. Basically, it just has everything in it!

Thanks again all

[richardandtracy]

Looks like very good value for money to me. The cheapest place I'd seen before was Cross Stitch Heaven. I will keep a note of Leisure Craft myself.

Regards,

Richard

[lcamp]

I bought at least 10 skeins this weekend at Michaels for three projects. They were .39 cents each. I like Michaels' DMC selection, because they have everything and it's organized, but they don't have much else to offer cross stitchers. Walmart's DMC selection is hit and miss and very disorganized! It's also .44 cents each.

I don't feel the need to own a complete set either, personally. But if you like or need to substitute colors, it would come in handy.

[Fizzbw]

I have a full set and more. I'm addicted.....but I can more likely than not kit up a whole HAED from my stash...

Good when you are as spontaneous as I am (ha ha) and suddenly find a project you MUST start NOW.

I'm glad you have ordered them and I wish I could come over and help bobbinate all of them....

Niki xxx

[Nicola Main]

Haven't ordered them yet, Niki! Have just told my Mum about going halfies for my birthday and she said she'd 'think about it'. Watch this space ...

[fccs]

I have a full set as well. I didn't intend that to happen but one day I realized how close I was, Joanns had a sale and poof - full set. (And yet I can't find my white and black - seriously????!!)

[19Roland19]

I had the full set....but they came out with 16 new ones a few years ago and I don't have them yet. So far these 16 haven't started showing up in patterns, so I'm not to worried.

My reasoning is for having the entire set is.....I wanted it. Just kidding. I found that whenever I started a new project, I was always missing a colour in the area I wanted to start. So, I started buying 2 or 3 skeins a week. Then the store closed down, and I had to get a drive to a craft store, so I started buying a few skeins a month. Then that craft store closed down, and I couldn't find one in my city that sold DMC. Whenever I went to visit my son, I'd stop at Michaels near him and buy a half dozen skeins.

Now, I have an app on my phone, and when I see I'm getting low on a colour, I add it into the app, so if I find myself in a store that sells DMC I buy what I need. And I'm working on collecting the specialty threads. First I'm working on getting the Light Effects. Next I'll probably get Color Variations,

[Nicola Main]

Just bought it!!!

Will let you all know how I get on and will post pics up when it arrives! So excited!

[crosstitcher1]

I have 3 "full sets. Even 3 sets of the new 16 colors that was introduced a couple of yrs. ago. The 1st one is mine, that I started 15 yrs. ago, and the last 2 Black Friday, Grandma's Day Out, outings with grand girls, 8 and 10 respectively, I bought both a set.
When my "late" oldest sis passed in 2013, I got "all" her embroidery, fabrics, patterns and thread, mixture of Anchor, JP Coats, and DMC, collection. I am in the "process" of teaching a neighbor cross stitching, a laced book marker with 2 butterflies on it, and I will be giving her my sis's thread collection.
I have 3 "future, future, future" projects for myself:
1 The Lord's Supper.
2. The "Flower of the Month" Angel afghan,
3. The Angel of Cross Stitch. It's the 100th anniversary of DMC Thread company pattern. It uses 391 threads.
We just got a Hobby Lobby in our county, so I will be going there to get my "as needed", "stitching" supplies. I will still use my "main" stitching store, an hour from us, as for my "projects" supplier. I have been using her for 25 yrs. now and "until" she "dies" or "closes" her doors, she will "always" be my "main" supplier.

HAPPY STITCHING IN STITCHING LAND.

[Kibakyu]

I bought at least 10 skeins this weekend at Michaels for three projects. They were .39 cents each. I like Michaels' DMC selection, because they have everything and it's organized, but they don't have much else to offer cross stitchers. Walmart's DMC selection is hit and miss and very disorganized! It's also .44 cents each.

I don't feel the need to own a complete set either, personally. But if you like or need to substitute colors, it would come in handy.
lcamp

Man, can I relate to this! I don't usually go to the store to buy them since I bought my last skeins online at 123stitch but it's usually Michael's or Joann's that I actually mess with picking them out. I don't have any friends IRL that like to stitch so I always try to make it quick if I'm there with someone else. That fact about WalMart must be true everywhere, because I went to the xstitch section once to pick out a color and the disorganization made it impossible.

As for buying online I can vouch for 123stitch as VERY good choice! I bought 52 skeins, and that included a gold one for 2.76. The price per was 44 cents, and the total come to $25.20, with 0.00 in tax(no, I'm not kidding). The main thing a lot of websites get you with is shipping. (cough)Herrshners 40 dollar shipping(cough) The shipping on those 52 skeins was less than 5 bucks (3.79 to be exact!) (Though I think it was shipping from UT to AZ). They sent me everything I wanted in very good time. I would say with gas it would have probably been about the same, the tax thing was very cool though. Also with online ordering I like that you will never order something they don't have, and I have had the experience of going to a store and them not having one pesky color so I will be ordering online from now on

I also don't think it's practical to have all the colors ( I currently have around 220 of their colors). One of the things I found was since I bought a bunch of skeins around Christmas, and have needed very specific and few ones since, so Christmas patterns and colors seem to be a good choices of what you might need in the future! With new ones coming out all the time, there is a novelty to "just needing a few more colors" in the collection aspect, at least to me.

~ Galia

[Nicola Main]

Well that's ashame, got an email this morning from Ethne who does the presentation boxes. Her daughter is very ill and she has a tummy bug so I won't be getting the box any time soon. I told her not to worry and I can wait as it was for my birthday and there's no rush. Something to look forward to though even if it is going to be late