Embroidery Floss: Types, Strands and How to Use It

Embroidery floss is the thread used for most hand embroidery: soft mercerised cotton made of six fine strands loosely twisted together. You separate the strands and use as many as the stitch needs, which is what makes one skein so versatile. It comes in hundreds of colours, numbered by each brand, and DMC is the most widely used system.

How many strands of embroidery floss to use, in short: two strands for most outlines and fine detail, three for general stitching and fills, one for very fine lines such as whiskers, and four to six for bold lines, French knots and textured fills. Always separate the strands one by one and put them back together, so the thread lies smooth.

Types of Embroidery Thread

Thread	What it is	Use it for
Stranded cotton (floss)	Six divisible strands, slight sheen	Almost all surface embroidery
Perle cotton	Twisted, not divisible; sizes 3, 5, 8, 12	Bold outlines, blanket stitch, sashiko
Metallic	Shiny synthetic or wrapped thread	Stars, Christmas details, highlights
Crewel and Persian wool	Fine wool yarn	Crewel embroidery, soft matte fills
Silk	Very fine, high sheen	Fine shading, heirloom work
Satin or rayon floss	Glossy, slippery	Shiny accents

How to Separate Floss

1. Cut a length of about 40–50 cm.
2. Hold the top end and pull out one strand slowly, straight up. The rest bunches and then relaxes.
3. Repeat for each strand you need.
4. Lay the strands side by side and thread them together. This “stripping” gives smoother, fuller stitches than using strands still twisted together.

How Many Strands for Which Stitch

Use	Strands
Whiskers, fine lines, eyelashes	1
Outlines in back or stem stitch	2
Long and short shading (thread painting)	1–2
Satin stitch fills	2–3
French knots, bold lines	3–6

For a deeper look at how strand count changes texture and shading, see our strand count guide.

DMC Numbers and Colour Charts

Each DMC colour has a number (for example 310 is black, B5200 bright white, 321 Christmas red). Patterns list the numbers, so you can buy exactly the shades the designer used. To compare colours, choose substitutes or convert to other brands such as Anchor, see our DMC colour chart guide and the thread conversion charts. Every paid Lumellu pattern lists its DMC colour codes.

How to Organise Embroidery Floss

• Bobbins: wind each colour onto a card or plastic bobbin and write the number on it.
• Boxes: store bobbins in numerical order in a compartment box.
• Project bags: keep the threads for one pattern together with the printed pattern and needles.
• Keep the labels: if you leave floss in the skein, keep the paper band, which carries the colour and dye lot.

The same six-stranded cotton is also used for friendship bracelets, so a bracelet-making pack is a cheap way to start a colour collection, although colours are usually unnumbered.

Patterns to Stitch Next

Every Lumellu pattern is an instant PDF with vector line art in several hoop sizes, DMC colour codes, a materials list and a separate Stitch Guide PDF. These are good first projects:

See all hand embroidery patterns →

Embroidery Floss FAQ

What is the difference between embroidery floss and embroidery thread?

“Embroidery floss” usually means six-stranded cotton; “embroidery thread” covers all threads used for embroidery, including perle cotton, wool and metallics.

How much floss does one skein contain?

A standard DMC stranded cotton skein holds 8 m of six-stranded thread.

Can I use sewing thread for embroidery?

It is too thin and shiny for most surface stitches; use stranded cotton or perle cotton.