Lessons Learned - Variegated Thread

Aren't variegated threads beautiful?  There they sit in the thread racks next to solid colors, and they almost bounce off the racks in their glee over their glory!  How can one resist them?  As you will soon see, I can't.  BUT, I am slowly coming to the realization that one must think a little, plan ahead even, before plunging a needle full of variegated thread into one's fabric.

One of my current activities that I can share with you is a wool project. It's a simple pattern that I've had as a kit for several years now - basically, it's a snowman. When I started sewing the ground onto the sky, I reasoned to myself that I was dealing with a snowman so I should use a thread that spoke "Snow" to me. Wildflower Threads has a gorgeous light blue/white variegated thread (I think its name may be Glacier or something like that). So I started my stitches. I didn't like it but kept going. After three inches, I stopped because I still didn't like it. It was too white, too stark on the black ground, and I had stitched three inches and the blue still hadn't appeared (wish I had taken a photo of it, but didn't). So I switched to a thread that had blue/lavender/brown/and more, and oh, what a difference! It said, "Snow in Shadows" to me.

 

 

You can see it very well in the first photo above but not so clearly on the curve of the snowman where the same thread seems lighter (it isn't - another trick of the light).  The second photograph shows the white/blue thread on the body of the snowman where I stitched a snowflake tonight.  I like the thread here because it was on the off-white color typical of wool with no competing dark color to make the contrast glaring. 

 

I was finally beginning to realize how to choose a correct variation of colors, or at least I hoped I was learning because my next thread choice was for the tweedy stocking cap the snowman is wearing.  Click on the photograph so you can see a larger version.  The thread was chosen because the colors were close to but not exactly like the ones in the tweed.  Also, I engineered it so the lightest/brightest colors of the thread were closest to the pompom on end of the hat where it would be farthest away from the head of the snowman (trying to be aware of competition).  Still on the stocking cap - because the cuff and pompom of the hat were made of the same material as was used for the snowman, I chose a different, almost solid color (Valdani thread) so as not to combine snowman and hat as one.

The stars were easy; it was the Valdani thread again.  Since there is a clear separation of stars and stocking cap, it shouldn't raise confusion by being the same thread.  It also more clearly has (on the stars) a slight variation of color.

 

Here's what I've learned so far about using variegated threads: 

 

Consider:

• both the fabric on which you are sewing and fabric behind it  - keep a color separation between the two
• if you are working on dark fabric, the lightest color in the thread (darkest color if working on light fabric) will be the most obvious - so obvious that it will seem as though it is the only color
• the composition as a whole - can you use the same variegation in different places for different elements?
• what elements of the design do you want emphasized with the colors in the variegation?

I'm sure there will be more things to learn as I continue with both this wool project and the several that are waiting in my stash.  And of course, these considerations carry over into other creative activities, too. 

 

Now on to his arms!