For the first time in 14 years, DMC threads are launching new colors. We were able to get a preview set, and so we’ve decided to help out and go into detail with the 35 new colors. There are a few sets of discontinued threads from DMC and there looks like there is a load of confusion over them, so without further ado, here are the sets: 3880 replaced with 223 Anchor stranded cotton is manufactured by Coats Crafts UK, a company founded some 200 years ago, and is very popular with cross stitchers. There are now several hundred different colour shades within the Anchor thread range. The range is not quite as large as the DMC thread range with some variation between the colours provided by both companies. At present. A DMC to Anchor conversion chart is available and an Anchor to DMC conversion chart is shown below:

Finally, we look upon the final section of new threads, colors 23 to 35. These compromise a series of purples, mostly light hued, without any runs of progressively darker threads. For a long time purple has been a big issue, with only darker purples being an use, as lighter ones were just way too pink. The new threads offer both lighter purples, but also a series of purples that merge into other colors, such as 28 and 29 which blend into a grey line 415, 318 and 414, which now feels a little orphaned with the new greys. 30, 31 and 32 blend into blue. And 33, 34 and 35 blend into red well, something there currently isn’t any of.

Skin tones have ALWAYS been an issue with threads, and whilst there are some good shades out there, the darker white skin colors have been missing for a while. Colors 20 to 22 solve that issue. A few weeks ago we looked at how cross stitch threads are made and surprisingly we were bombarded with comments about discontinuations of DMC threads. So I decided for our second look at threads, we’d look at discontinuations. Initially, it seems a little odd to have so many greens in the new threads, especially considering green has always been a strong point of DMC. However, if you think about the greens available, they either transition into blue, or brown. Hardly any move into yellow. This is where the new green threads come in, offering fairly pale greens that transition into yellow. In addition color 13 sits as a lighter 3849 to allow blue to green blending a little easier at pale ends of the spectrum. Very Dark Pewter Gray DMC floss. This quality embroidery floss is perfect for stitching on all types of fabric. Made with 100% long staple cotton. Double mercerized. Brilliant six-strand divisible thread. Colors are washable and fade resistant. Article 117. 8.7 yards.

We then have the solitary 19, a peachy orange. This is clearly made to fit within existing 3823, 3855, 19, 3854, 3853 line. I must admit, I’ve never really seen much use of these colors, however unlike most other color ranges featuring at least 5 colors, it shows DMC are devoted to making their existing line perfect. (The images don’t do it justice.) Based of the new colors is clear that DMC have really listened to what customers wanted. Without further ado, lets look at each of the new colors. Please note that this chart should only be used as a guide. A "*" indicates the shade has been used more than once and care needs to be taken to ensure duplication within a design is avoided. There's a reason most designers use DMC it's very high quality floss. However, I am somewhat disappointed about there inability to get different lots of the same color number to even look similar. Sometimes it's like two completely different colors that aren't even close.

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Firstly, the new colors range from code 01 to 35, and no colors are being replaced; these are all additional only. This brings the total range up to 500. They’re out in late October/early November (dependent on where you live). It is imperative to complete your piece of cross stitch work using thread or floss from the same manufacturer to ensure that there is no variation in colour of the finished article. Most people suspect therefore that these had an issue being sold in the EU, and whilst that is partly true, most people are getting confused with the second set of threads.

No. In fact, the new range fills in many of the gaps of the old range, and we think, thanks to the numbering, that we might be seeing a ‘renumbering’ of the old set soon. Those other threads the US factory considered removing? Wasn’t officially discontinued until 2015, the most recent set of discontinuations. The new EU laws in 2000 stated that no new products could use dyes classes as harmful to the environment. DMC chose to alter the dyes of a whole set of their threads, but for some dyes, they just couldn’t get a good match. Whilst the threads were phased out of all EU stores (and removed from their thread cards), they hung around in the US for some time, who didn’t have the same dye laws. They were officially removed alongside some variegated threads (without alternatives) in 2015. But what about the new DMC threads? Is this signs that we might be getting more discontinuations?