Silk Road Needle Arts

                        St. Petersburg, Florida
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Dyelots--

When in doubt, it is better to overbuy thread and use it for other small projects. For large projects, we can special order large quantities of thread for you so that you will have the same dye lot. In general, shops cannot obtain the same dyelot on future shipments.

If the thread is used in several plies, dyelot changes can be minimized by mixing some of the old dye lot with the newer one (so don't use up all of your thread and switch to the new dyelot.) In areas where the color is separated by other elements, dyelot becomes less of an issue; the "eye" will fill in so that it looks like the same.

For the hand-dyed variegated (or overdyed) threads, changes in dyelot can be quite noticeable! Sometimes these changes add to the beauty of the finished piece, but if you want similar coloration, please ask us about special ordering larger quantities for you.

Some thread companies use the latest technology and the difference between dyelots is not noticeable. Many threads don't have dyelots assigned to them!

Related to dyelots, you should not stitch up all of your thread and expect to be able to match it exactly if the dyelot has changed. Once threads are stitched down, especially in small stitches, they look somewhat darker and are therefore very difficulty to match. Also, it is very difficult to match a single snippet of thread (you are already familiar with this if you have ever tried to match a tiny paint sample.)