Dropping that Floss

When I picked up stitching again in the fall of 2024, I was only familiar with the floss organization that my mother and grandmother used. Floss bags with Sharpie numbers and floss folded up and organized by number.

That's how it's done right?

Then I found Flosstube and heard about floss drops. What?! It looked pretty, but I didn't have much floss of my own and I wasn't about to drop the two master sets of DMC that I inherited from the stitching women in my family. So I carried on with my baggies, pulling what I thought I needed when I needed it.

 

The more I designed, the more frustration I found with trying to pick my colors. I had to dig through my unorganized pile of bags, pull the floss out to get rid of the glare, and hope it was close. I have a DMC swatch folder, though it was released in 2000 and I've found that there have been some adjustments to some of the colors over the years.

I was wasting time and not entirely happy with my results, so I decided I had to do something.

So I started researching. I couldn't make the financial investment into coordinating acrylic drops, though they seemed like my aesthetic. But heavy cardstock? I have a machine that cuts that for me.

Intro: Cricut.

 

 

I could cut as many floss hangers as I needed, when I needed them. It was perfect! I pulled out my fancy linen-textured stock and got to work.

If I left them blank, I could easily write the DMC number on the tag, and I wouldn't feel guilty if I ever ended up with duplicates or disasters.

 

 

It was exactly what I needed. I could hang my floss on the grid wall that doesn't get direct sunlight, and when I design it's easy to grab and compare colors or toss it on my fabric to get a quick start.

 

 

As my collection grew, I started organizing by color categories - warm neutral, cool neutral, grey, brown, you get the idea. Was there a time investment involved to get going? Sure. But the time it has saved me over the last two months when designing and pulling thread has made it more than worth it.

Has it encouraged me to purchase more floss? Yes. But if you ask me, collecting and stash building is almost as much of the hobby as the stitching itself. ;)

 

 

Interested in using your Cricut or electronic cutting machine to make your floss dropping a little easier?

Click here to download my floss drop SVG files that are ready to import into Cricut Design Space or your cutting software.

Or use this link to access my Cricut project directly:

https://design.cricut.com/landing/project-detail/68476ccc494faf77f761944e

 

Want to make it your own?

Use different colored paper for different floss brands, or even use Cricut's Print then Cut feature to get more professional looking drops with all the information you'd need to know!

 

 

Get Floss Dropping

I've included the rounded rectangle drops that I use as well as an oval version if that's your preference. I can fit 35 hangers on a single sheet of 12" x 12" paper, so I'll cut a few sheets at a time and keep them on hand for when I do a little shopping.

 

If you have any questions or need some suggestions you can always reach out to me and I'll help you through the process.

 

In the meantime, happy organizing, and happy stitching!