Alternatives to Bugle Beads for Sprinkles

I’m currently stitching this Evergreen Needlepoint ice cream canvas. As you can see by the picture, it has sprinkles painted on it. Because this will be in an item that gets lots of use, my usual solution for sprinkles, bugle beads (below), won’t work. It’s very hard to attach bugle beads securely and their rough ends would be very likely to cut the thread when jostled around.

My solution is to stitch the sprinkles. Because they go in several different directions, I’ll add them after the ice cream is finished and do each with one straight stitch. But picking a thread is more difficult. There are plenty of options.

Metallic threads, metallic blends, and rayons all have lots of sparkle like bugle beads. If I want the closest match to the beads’ finish, these would be the best choice. Flair and Frosty Rays are also shiny but too wide.

My concern here is that sprinkles in real life are more matte. Because this will be looked at close-up, I want that matte texture to come through. Petite Sparkle Rays is mostly matte and has a little sparkle. It still might be a bit too wide, though. Nicely matte and thin is Baroque Silk , but it doesn’t have the bright colors of the canvas.

Although I have some in bright colors and I would have liked to use them, I discarded wool threads and Impressions because they are a bit too soft. This also holds true for Planet Earth, Vineyard Silk, pepperpot, and Essentials.

This leaves me with different kinds of stranded threads, pearl cottons, and less-shiny silk pearls. Although I can control the thickness of stranded threads ad finding a color match is no problem, I worry about snagging strands in hard-wearing items. Therefore they will be my third chice.

I like the pearls because they have nice firm edges like the sprinkles do. Because the pearls are single-stranded threads, I must be careful about the threads’ thickness. Balancing the weight so the sprinkles are good accents, but are not overwhelming, is important. Pearl cotton #5 might be too thick; Pearl cotton #8 is too thin. I’ll make pearl cotton my backup choice. Grandeur (#5) and Elegance (#8) are a bit more matte but keep the firm edges of pearl. They will be my top choice. Which I pick will depend on the colors in my stash.