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Curious about DMC...

Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2012 3:50 pm
by backafteradozenyrs
...and their coding/numbering system. I'm sticking strictly to the 6-strand floss here (I would go on all day if I expanded it to other DMC products!)

I have a DMC color card ($10 splurge at Wallyworld; I also have the "virtual" version saved in my cross stitch folder on my pc).

I've noticed "white" could be B5200 or White or Blanc. Is there any difference between the 3? Does it matter if I switch mid- :wip: from one to another (will there be any kind of a difference?)

Then all the lower numbers (48-169) aren't usually stocked in LNS. Are they obsolete or something?

Also, DMC #s sometimes skip (nothing in the 200's until 208-211 then skips to 221.

Finally, is there any particular reason why the #'s go from the 900's to 3000's?

Silly raving, I know....I'm just curious like my :kitty: (that's my excuse & I'm sticking to it!)

Re: Curious about DMC...

Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2012 4:17 pm
by mechie
I don't know about why they number the way they do. I've always wondered that myself.

As for the white v. blanc v. B5200: White and Blanc are the same (just depends on if it's in English or French). B5200 is, I believe, bright white and a slightly different shade from White. Depending on how close together the sections are you might not want to switch in the middle. If the two aren't right next to each other it might not be noticable. That's my take on it anyway.

mechie

Re: Curious about DMC...

Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2012 4:19 pm
by talenaya
backafteradozenyrs wrote:I've noticed "white" could be B5200 or White or Blanc. Is there any difference between the 3? Does it matter if I switch mid- :wip: from one to another (will there be any kind of a difference?)
White and Blanc are the same. B5200 is a brighter near shimmery (in my eyes) form of white.
backafteradozenyrs wrote:Then all the lower numbers (48-169) aren't usually stocked in LNS. Are they obsolete or something?
152 -169 are solids. The other one are variegated. I usually can find them next to the DMC balls and the metallic in wrappers.
backafteradozenyrs wrote:Also, DMC #s sometimes skip (nothing in the 200's until 208-211 then skips to 221
DMC have had various colors over the years and have retired other.
backafteradozenyrs wrote:Finally, is there any particular reason why the #'s go from the 900's to 3000's?
Honestly, no idea on the one.

Re: Curious about DMC...

Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2012 4:24 pm
by backafteradozenyrs
Oh, THANK YOU both for that info! In doing my "White Wedding" :wip: , I bought the majority of my floss from 1-2-3 stitch in one fell swope, but added a bobbin from home & I think it may be an odd-man out (so I need to pull it befor I use it!)

Just got curious about the rest (& I like to collect trivia).

Re: Curious about DMC...

Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2012 7:48 pm
by MaggieM1750
Oh.. and dont forget about winter white... 3865 or something like that.. its one of the last on their list. Its a slightly yellow, dirty white. In my head, its a soft white.

I think of B5200 as bright white. Or ice white. To me it has a bit of a blue note to it. When thinking of cool and warm colors, I think of it as cold white.

And I have noticed white is not white is not white. I am working on a project with a few skeins of regular white floss. Which I wasn't going to buy. Lady at the stitch shop recomended I buy new.. and buy them all at the same time. Then she said to compare my new whites with what I had at home. I could totally tell the difference. What I had at home had yellow tones compared to the new skeins I bought. On their own.. both new and old are white. But stitched next to each other in a project it would have been a noticable difference when I switched skeins.

Edit: Whoops.. had the wrong color number

Re: Curious about DMC...

Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2012 8:05 pm
by rcperryls
That is really good to know Maggie, since I have lots of older skeins. I ran into that problem with DMC 647. The newer ones have a sleight green tinge. I thought it would be a real problem with my Tabbies HAED, but I can use the new one for most of it (good thing since I'm barely started)as it isn't next to or very close to the other and I don't think it shows as there are so many shades of gray in this chart. White could be a serious problem so I will take care if I have any projects which have a lot of white.
Good question Diana. I have wondered about this myself too.

Carole
:D

Re: Curious about DMC...

Posted: Sat Jun 09, 2012 12:42 am
by Rose
Actually you have to be careful with some greys and browns as well. I have had a few tha do not match up. If I kit up a pattern and think that I might run out of the color before the project is done I will pull the new floss and set them together if the shade is a bit off I will combine the two in the pattern until the older floss is finished.

Re: Curious about DMC...

Posted: Sat Jun 09, 2012 12:07 pm
by Mabel Figworthy
I agree about the Whites -- when I do white-on-white work it definitely makes a difference depending on the fabric colour which "white I use. Zweigart 100 fabric gets DMC B5200 bright white (like Maggie I think of it as a cool white), Zweigart 101 gets White/Blanc (the same thing only in different languages) and there is another fabric shade the number of which escapes me for which I would use the off white 3865 if they it came in perle #5, but as it doesn't I use Anchor 926.
Good thing there isn't quite so much variety in blacks :-)

Re: Curious about DMC...

Posted: Sat Jun 09, 2012 3:38 pm
by Heather
I have this same problem! I finally figured out the difference between b5200 and white... but I recently got a batch of older threads and one of them is "snow"... slightly different than white and b5200 lol. Basically I have all the shades of white one could ever need.

Re: Curious about DMC...

Posted: Sat Jun 09, 2012 5:38 pm
by CayenneCat
I've noticed that some of my older floss skeins of grey are a slightly different color than the newer skeins. I also noticed this with the royal blues.

It helps to hear that there are others who've noticed this too and with other colors.

I'm trying to use up some of my older skeins, but I am concerned that if I run out and start a new skein that the color will be a bit different.

BTW - I've also wondered about the weird numbering scheme for the DMC colors.

Re: Curious about DMC...

Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2012 9:16 am
by Mabel Figworthy
The two series of lilac/purple (208-211 and 554-550) have changed considerably over the years, I've got some old skeins I inherited which are VERY different from the new ones.