Talk to one teacher and they are fibers, talk to another they are threads. One person says embroidery floss has six plies, another that it’s six strands.
Here’s a quick glossary of thread terms.
Fiber is the stuff thread, yarn, and fabric is made from. Thread is the skinny, spun, not woven, stuff made from fibers. Think of it as the difference between a cow and beef. A cow is the animal that gives us the meat beef.
Threads are spun from plies of the fiber. One ply is an indivisible section of fiber that usually is combined with more plies and spun (twisted) to make a strand of thread or yarn. Depending on the fiber and how it is processed, plies can be thick or thin with long or short staples or strands of the fiber.
The finished thread is made from one or more strands combined together. Some threads, such as Silk & Ivory, are tightly twisted together so they can’t be separated. Others, like Splendor, are loosely twisted so that the strands can be separated easily and recombined into thinner stitching threads.
Fibers are grouped into three big groups, depending on their origin. Animal fibers come from either the fur or some other product from an animal. Wool is made from the fleece of sheep. Yarn can be spun from discarded hairs from animals. Silk is made from cocoons.
Plant fibers are made from plants. They can come from different parts of the plant, cotton comes from the seed pod, while linen comes from the plant.
Man-made fibers are made by chemical processes. They can have all sorts of things as origins. More common in fabric than in embroidery, often man-made fibers are added to other fibers to make a blended thread.
Why do we care about the fiber used to make our threads? The same fiber shares similar characteristics, no matter what thread it is. You can see this easily by taking two threads each of two different fibers. If you have two wools, notice that they are soft and hairy. They stretch a bot when you pull them. They are matte. Now pick two silks. They are smoother, more shiny and the colors are much more brilliant. These differences stem from the basic difference between silk and wool.
Remember Fibers make threads that are spun into plies which are combined to make strands that make up the thread we buy and use.
Do you have questions about thread? Ask them in the question box and we’ll answer them in future columns.
About Janet M Perry
Janet Perry is the Internet's leading authority on needlepoint. She designs, teaches and writes, getting raves from her fans for her innovative techniques, extensive knowledge and generous teaching style. A leading writer of stitch guides, she blogs here and lives on an island in the northeast corner of the SF Bay with her family
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