For years I have been wanting to try this straw-like thread from The Thread Gatherer but never had the chance. Either my canvases were wrong or I couldn’t find the color I wanted. Everything came together with this canvas of an iconic San Francisco sign from One Part Whimsy (available here). The white on the sign is stitched using this 100% cotton thread.
You can compare it to pearl cotton because that thread was used to stitch “49 mile.”
Sea Grass, like Straw Silk, is a flat thread, but it a bit thinner. The width is about that of four strands of floss, plied and recombined. While I have to split Straw Silk when I stitch on 18 mesh, Sea Grass fits this mesh size perfectly. It was also very easy to thread. Sea Grass is made up of several strands put together, so it can be split. I found the thin width of the thread made this a bit difficult. Splitting it in half resulted in thinner threads that could easily be used for stitching.
The thread is packaged in zipper bags, containing 14 yards. I cut the loop of thread once and stored the cut threads in the bag. Although the color number is not written on the bag, there is plenty of space to add it to the label. The thread does have dye lots, although these are not named or numbered. Currently it comes in 62 colors.
The thread has a matte texture. Because there are so few truly matte threads on the market right now, this thread should be considered whenever you want a matte texture. It is also soft. While in long stitches it can look very much like straw, the thread is soft enough that it was easy to stitch. In fact, it is pliable enough to be used for Tent Stitch, although it looks best in stitches that are longer.
The colors of this thread include mostly solids with both bright and muted colors. There are some shades that are more varied. Because the thread is hand-dyed, there will be variations in even the solid colors. The color names match those of other threads from this company and the colors will be similar, although they will not necessarily match because of the difference in fibers. For example, Prairie GArass is almost white in Sea Grass, but pale gold in Silk n’Colors.
I like this thread so much that I am sorry it took me so long to try it!
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
Daphne Hedges says
Will you stitch the reds and blues or is it done?
Janet M Perry says
Yes, they will be stitched. The red-orange in Tent using silk floss. The blue will be stitched in Alternating Little V (find it in this post) using silk pearl. It will be an ornament.
Keep stitching,
Janet