Manalto

I found a perfect match with Gutermann 112 (Grey) thread but it only seems to be available in the dinky 110 yard spools. Is the availability of the the large spools (547 yards) limited to fewer colors? They make 'Mist Grey' but it's too light - the 112 is a dark warm gray.

Now here's the tough part of the question for the person who, by chance, has some of this color lying around and a match - if Gutermann 112 is only available in the small spools, do you know of another manufacturer that makes this same color in larger spools?

Jeanne S

I am not familiar with your specific gray color, but I usually buy the large 3,281 yard cones of the Gutermann natural cotton thread and can usually find it in only about 8-10 colors. So i do think that there are substantially fewer colors in the larger sizes. The darkest gray I have is number 6206, and is more of a medium gray to me.

ManiacQuilter2

I recently bought a large spool of grey Gutermann thread (876 yds) just to try it out for piecing. Most thread manufacturers will only offer their most popular colors in larger spools. That is what Mettler thread has done over the decades.

Manalto

I'd much rather use 100% cotton thread but someone talked me into using the poly a while back. (I can't remember who it was or the reason(s) given.) Now I'm happy to see people whose opinions I value matter-of-factly specify the cotton. Frankly, I'm baffled by the variety of types available and avoid most of them out of ignorance. How do you match colors when buying online? I don't trust my monitor and/or the vendor's photograph to display the color exactly.

Jeanne S

I buy mostly neutral thread colors: white, black, egg white, cream, taupe and grays, all in the 3,281 cones. I find these work for almost all my quilts as I sew with neutrals or brights with while or black backgrounds. If I have a specific color need I will buy a smaller spool locally where I can see/match it. It would be nice if there was some sort of color chart like for Kona and Moda Bella solid fabrics, but have never seen one.

Manalto

This isn't for a quilt. I found a really nice cotton flannel in dark gray and with the chilly weather we're having, got the idea to make myself some really nice, old-fashioned pajamas. I didn't stop there. I liked this flannel so much, I bought the whole remaining 20 yards. I want a flannel shirt too, maybe a couple of them. I'll use it. Don't get mad at me for going off topic; I planned to keep a low profile and only ask about thread. BUT!!! I did learn something useful for quilt construction. I'm going to use cotton thread for quilts from now on. No more spun plastic for me.

I just got off the phone with Wawak and they told me they sell color charts with thread samples for about $25-30 depending on whether it's the huge chart or the mega-gigantic chart. I don't do enough matching work to justify this purchase, so I didn't get one. For quilts, I like Jeanne's policy of neutral cotton thread. Do you use cotton for piecing too, or just for the quilting?

Jeanne S

Manulto, I use the same cones of Gutermann 50wt natural cotton thread for all aspects of my quilt construction---piecing, quilting and hand sewing the finishing binding. Maybe I just don't know any better, but it works well for everything for me and my Juki just purrs with the Gutermann cotton thread. Much lower lint than some smaller spools I bought at Connecting Threads.

Your dark grey flannel pajamas sound so cozy!!!

Manalto

Or "really nice" as I insist on saying.

What is the best color for piping on dark gray flannel pajamas? Light gray? Black? Color?

I plan to wear them making quilts this winter.

Jeanne S

I think that is personal preference--my choice would be light gray or black. But if you are a little daring-----I love hot pink accents on gray!!! Or red for the holidays with gray could be festive too.

pennycandy

I use a color that's a very close match on inside seams and save the exact match on things that will show (button holes and top stitching) when I run low on the exact color match. It gave me the heebie jeebies the first time I did it but no one ever noticed. If you look at store bought clothing they rarely color match the serger threads to finish the inside seams.