Colour Complements is one of my favorite small dyers of thread. Their Etsy shop has so many delightful threads. I have used several of them in the past (here) The newest edition to their line is hand-dyed Petite Very Velvet.
I tested it against regular versions of this thread in the Mindy round above. White is Rainbow Gallery’s Petite Very Velvet. Red is the Colour Complements thread.
Both stitch up beautifully on 18-mesh canvas. Comparing them side-by-side, the Colour Complements thread is thinner. I cannot see or feel a difference in the stitched piece, but I could clearly see a difference in the unstitched thread. The main affect of this thinner thread is that it is easier to use. Textured stitches could also be less full, although I only stitched Tent in this piece.
The company is still working on colors for this thread. Some are all the same color, as is the case here, but they are not shades in what would be the same color family in solid threads. Here, for example, one red is a tomato red (red-orange), another is true red, and a third is a vibrant dark hot pink (red-violet). The line on the right happened to get just the true red, so the effect of the hand-dye process is subtle. The larger area on the left, however, had all the colors.
In stitching that means you cannot use this thread and stitch Basketweave, I found that differences in color that were subtle under low, incandescent, and even LED were glaringly obvious in sunlight. Other colors of this thread have even more obvious variation and some are even multi-colors. That means you will need to be careful using them. They all have more variation than Rainbow Gallery’s Shaded Very Velvet (review here). You can see this by comparing the two greens. Rainbow Gallery’s thread has 3-4 shades of a basic green. Colour Complements green has basic green, hunter green, olive green, and two lighter shades of yellow-green.
Use Continental style for Tent Stitch. If your areas are larger and unbroken, use clumping. If you care about color placement stitch in sunlight or very bright light. Because dye lots may not match, buy as much of this thread as you think you will need at one time.
I loved this thread. If you plan out your stitching first, it will reward you with a lovely unique effect.
(This thread was purchased and was not provided for testing and review.)
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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