1. Home
  2. Hobbies & Games
  3. Cross-Stitch
photo of Connie  G. Barwick

Connie's Cross-Stitch Blog

By Connie G. Barwick, About.com Guide to Cross-Stitch since 2006

Poll - Have You Stitched With Sullivans Embroidery Floss?

Monday June 1, 2009
I am always on the lookout for new embroidery flosses (As I have written before, I am something of a "flossaholic"). So, when a reader emailed me to ask my opinion of Sullivan's floss, I was intrigued because it was a brand name I did not recognize.


After doing some research, I discovered that Sullivans Embroidery floss is available in most Hancock Fabrics. One feature of the floss is that each skein has the number of the similar DMC floss color printed right on the label. I have some samples of the floss, and I am working on a small project with it. So far, it seems to be a good mid-grade floss. If you have a stitcher who is just starting out, this floss will be great for simple projects.

Have you used Sullivan floss? Vote in the poll and let us know.

If you have stitched with the floss, use the comment button below to let us know your evaluation and opinion of it.

If you have a photo of a project stitched with Sullivan floss (or any other brand of floss!), submit a photo for inclusion in the About.com Cross Stitch Photo Album.

Comments

December 27, 2008 at 8:30 pm
(1) Cheryl Hildenbrandt says:

I went to get some (DMC) floss tonight at Hancock Fabrics. I was very disappointed to find they had a mixture of DMC and Sullivan flosses. First, as I was looking for the floss numbers, Sullivan uses a very different numbering system. They had a cross-reference list available and each bin had “similar to DMC ###”. The second problem was the colors were not very “similar” – sometimes not at all! I never could have switched over to Sullivan mid-project, but even if I were to start with Sullivan (using the incident from tonight’s venture) someone who was supposed to have dark grey/black hair would have ended up with deep blue! No thanks, give me DMC any day.

January 7, 2009 at 12:49 pm
(2) Kim says:

My hubby just came home with some Sullivan’s after doing his best to get me what I wanted at Hancock. The Sullivan’s doesn’t have the sheen DMC has, nor does it feel as nice to the touch. And after checking the colors to see how close they match in my floss sampler thingy, they are not close enough, in my opinion. But I’m a bit of a DMC snob. ;) I’ll wait till I can get the DMC thread.

January 13, 2009 at 10:53 pm
(3) Kim says:

Got the DMC colors today and matched them to the Sullivan colors hubby bought the other day. Pretty dern close! Not sure why my sampler thingy was so off. Figured I’d follow up on my last comment.

January 14, 2009 at 6:47 am
(4) Connie G. Barwick says:

Thanks for letting us know. I am sure some colors won’t be as exact, but it is nice to know if you stitch a pattern in Sullivan’s floss it will be close to the chart done in DMC. So, it really will function as a substitute in other words!

January 19, 2009 at 3:34 pm
(5) Mark says:

I also recently visited Hancock Fabrics to pick up some floss and was surprised to discover the changeover from DMC to Sullivans. I went online to Hancock Fabrics expressing my concerns and received a response both from Hancock Fabrics and Sullivans. The gentleman from Sullivans addressed my concerns and also asked me to provide a list of DMC colors I am using on a current project and offered to provide comparable Sullivan samples. I am going to do so with the intent of testing for color fastness and comparability to DMC floss I am currently using.

The biggest drawback I see is the availability of the floss and the acceptance by designers in their charts. Without this I don’t foresee a big move from DMC to Sullivans

October 29, 2009 at 10:22 pm
(6) Peony says:

Went to Hancocks today. Disappointed they don’t sell DMC. DMC is top quality. Sullivans–I won’t buy it. It has a “dull” sheen compared to DMC. I don’t like it and I won’t buy it.

Leave a Comment

Line and paragraph breaks are automatic. Some HTML allowed: <a href="" title="">, <b>, <i>, <strike>

Explore Cross-Stitch

About.com Special Features

Scrapbook Technique Gallery

Use these ideas to inspire your own uniquely beautiful pages. More >

Price Your Collectibles

Find out how much your treasured collection is worth. More >

  1. Home
  2. Hobbies & Games
  3. Cross-Stitch

©2009 About.com, a part of The New York Times Company.

All rights reserved.