Crafts Unleashed

Several years ago my husband thought it would be fun to take up cross-stitching. He liked it so much that he went out and bought a bunch of cross-stitch kits that were on clearance for pennies on the dollar. Of course, being the man that he is, he quickly got frustrated with how time consuming cross-stitching was and packed the kits away.

Last year, I found those kits, disassembled them and chose to use the thread for my own artsy stuff. However, I was soon frustrated with the quality of those threads. No wonder the kits were not selling. The threads were horrible! They frayed and knotted constantly.

100 Assorted 8 meter Skeins

So when I heard that Consumer Crafts had a kit of 100 assorted skeins (Item 1170-93) for just $9.97 I was really skeptical about the quality of those threads. I thought for sure I’d experience the same problem but I was mistaken.

Some fun ideas

I tested the thread by embroidering t-shirt material, then canvas, then painted canvas paper, then cardstock, and the threads held up beautifully. I was impressed, not only with the price but the quality of the cotton.

Stitched outline of close-captioned flower

The only drawback is that the kit has 100 skeins and only comes with 12 paper bobbins. If you’re an organization freak like me, that will drive you nuts. Luckily Consumer Crafts sells a set of 25 plastic bobbins (Item 10803) for just 65 cents!

Here’s the thing about thread skeins. If you don’t place them on a bobbin as soon as you remove the little paper tube holding the skein together you will end up with one huge tangled mess! So take my advice and order the extra bobbins.

Almost tangled

To properly use a bobbin, wrap the start of your skein through the two slits at the top of the skein, like this:

Secure The Ends

Then wrap the skein around the bobbin, going in one direction, until you reach the end. Then go back the other way. Repeat until the skein is completely wrapped around the bobbin like this:

Wrap The Thread Around The Bobbin

Now, when you need a color, you simply unwrap the skein, separate the threads, then wrap up the unused thread. It’s that simple.

I have to admit that I tend to stick to using the thread as embellishments on paper and canvas projects but the more I thought about it, the more I thought, “What else can I do with the thread?”

So I browsed Consumer Crafts’ online catalog and did a little brainstorming to come up with these seven simple—yet fun—ideas for using craft thread:

1. Friendship Bracelets: This is actually a craft my daughter does every couple of months. Usually, she wraps the finished bracelet around her arm, then comes to me to complete the final knot as she can’t get it herself.

2. Wrapped Ornaments – Take an already shaped wire object like Consumer Crafts’ wired heart (Item 1726) and turn it into an ornament by wrapping various colored thread around the wire. (Editior’s note: you can also wrap Styrofoam balls, too.)

3. Friendship Ring – Make a smaller version of a friendship bracelet- but instead of measuring your wrist, measure your finger.

4. Fancy Headbands – Use a headband blank like (Item V35565-01), and then wrap the threads around for some decorative texture! Secure ends on the underside with Fabri-Tac.

5. Embroidered Canvas Shoes – Draw an outlined image or scene onto the tops of canvas shoes. Use a hand quilter’s needle to stitch the thread around the outline, then seal the shoes with a spray-on waterproof fabric protector.

6. Embroidered Hand Towels –  Look for hand towels with simple designs—preferably light colored towels with outlined images. Then hand stitch the outline of the images with craft thread.  You can usually find the best hand towels around the holidays, like Thanksgiving and Christmas. (My sister usually likes to use gold or yellow colored thread so that the stitching stands out more.)

7. Embellished Ties – Tired of buying the men in your life ties that don’t reflect your heart’s intent? Purchase a light, solid colored tie, write your message or draw your design in white ink, then hand stitch the design with craft thread.

What other ideas can you come up with to use the craft thread as the main focus of your arts and crafts project?