Are you looking for great threads you won’t find anywhere else?
Look no further than Etsy at the wonderful threads from LES Designs. Lorraine dyes her threads in Canada.
Her assortment of threads always includes perle cotton in several sizes, and silks. What’s available changes depending on what base threads she can find and what is dyed. Right now her shop includes sparkly chainette, rayon, tubular ribbon, and twisted silk, along with cotton and thread sampler packs.
I’ve tried several of her threads and they are great for needlepoint. One characteristic makes them stand out from other multi-colored threads. Her color runs are very short. That means the color of the thread will change quickly as you stitch. With some colors it changed within 2 or 3 stitches.The longest color run I found was about 5 stitches.
The color run is the length of thread between colors. Many threads for needlework have color runs of 2-4 inches. If you use knitting yarns for your needlepoint, the runs are even longer. This means you get less variation in your stitching.
As you can see from the Designing Women fish shown here, the colors blend into each other subtly, but they change often. This gives your needlepoint a delightful depth.
I have used several of the LES threads and loved them all. The perle cottons have a great range of colors you won’t find elsewhere. All the colors I’ve tried look great. I used it for the vine in the beehive pictured on this post.
The twisted silk is a bit slippery, but looks wonderful (I used it on the fish and made every stitch twice.) I found that it would untwist at the tail but this did not affect my ability to stitch. Unlike many other twisted silks, it did not snag.
The rayon is very shiny and my sample was quite thin. I used it for the flowers on the beehive. I found that it behaved better than other rayons I have used.
I have the chainette but haven’t used it yet.
If you are looking for a variety of textures in similar colors, look at the Thread Sampler Packs. They have six skeins of thread all dyed to match. They are great for getting different effects.
I love these threads!
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
Thank you SO much for the lovely post Janet! I’m absolutely delighted to see both your samples but most of all how you found stitching with the threads. Am really delighted to hear you found the rayon somewhat easier to stitch than others – this has been a major factor in why I chose this particular rayon. Also delighted to hear that you enjoyed stitching with the silk – this is by far the most favourite silk I’ve sourced to date. It takes the dye beautifully and the sheen is just exquisite. Your sample looks gorgeous! Thanks again, Lorraine
Very pretty stitching, Janet! I love Lorraine’s threads as well… would you believe, I no longer stitch, but love to incorporate unique fibres in my jewelry-making 🙂