substituting one dmc color floss for another

by Patti Williams
(Johnson City, TN USA)

I am doing a project, or am getting ready to do a project, but I can't find all the embroidery floss I need. Can I substitute one DMC floss for another DMC color?

These are the colors I need:

1. 3822 straw lt
2. 932 antique blue lt
3. 642 beige grey dk
4. 640 beige gray vy dk
5. 349 coral dk

Can you tell me what would be the best colors to use?

Thanks so much

Carol answers...

Patti, that is a difficult question to answer without knowing what type of work you are undergoing. Is your project a counted cross stitch design or a surface embroidered piece for instance?

If it is cross stitch then it is best to stick to the colors that the designer used when creating the design. The pattern could well have other colors that are used in combination with the ones you cannot find for shading effects. Substituting a different shade could throw the design out if this is the case.

If, on the other hand, there is only one straw color in the design then you may well be able to find something close that would do the job.

Something else you could consider would be to find a similar color to the one you need, in a different brand of embroidery floss, such as Anchor. In this case you could substitute the colors in your list as follows...

1. DMC 3822 straw lt - 305 Anchor
2. 932 antique blue lt - 343 Anchor
3. 642 beige grey dk - 392 Anchor
4. 640 beige gray vy dk - 903 Anchor
5. 349 coral dk - 13 Anchor

The page on DMC embroidery thread conversion and the downloadable chart from that page should be of help here also.

I hope this helps.

Regards,

Carol