How many strands should you be using?

Although there’s no universal answer to this question, and I personally highly regard single strand stitching over multiple strands, here are a few practical tips you could consider for your next project.

We’re talking your typical Mouline Special stranded cotton thread.

Number of strands = speed.

Each skein comes with 8 meters or 8.9 yards of thread, and has 6 separate strands twisted together.

If you use all 6 strands at once, you’ll end up with a pretty bulky stitch; and if you use a single strand, you’ll have a very light stitch. There’s everything in between as well.

The amount of strands you choose to use will directly impact the speed of which you’ll be able to cover ‘square footage’, ie:

Using 6 strands = fastest stitching.
Using 5-4 strands = fast stitching.
Using 3-2 strands = moderate stitching.
Using 1 strand = slower stitching.

To help you decide how many strands you should be using for your project, the first place to start is to decide what hoop size you want to be using.

The size of your hoop is important.

In our day, there's a vast choice. You can find hoops that are 2cm in diameters, you can also find ones that measure a whopping 70cm.

However, hoops ranging from 4” (10cm) all the way to 12” (30cm) are in the most popular category, so let’s focus on those.

Here’s my recommendation:

4” and under = 1 strand
5-6” = 2 strands
7” = 3 strands
8-9” = 4-5 strands
10-12” = 6 strands

Save the image below for future reference if you like.

Bonus tip #1: Separate strands easily.

1. Cut your piece of thread.

2. Pinch near one end with one of your hands.

3. Find the strand you want with the other hand.

4. Gently pull on that strand while still pinching them all. Take your time, the slower you do this step, the easier it will be. You’ll notice the rest of your strands will start to bunch up tougher just underneath your fingers, that’s perfect fine.
   One you pull your strand out fully, that bunch will gently fall back down without being tangled. If it doesn’t go back into shape fully, just give it a gently pull from both sides.
   It’s that simple. And it works every time.

Bonus tip #2: Separate, then combine.

If you’re using multiple strands at a time, the best practice is to separate each strand one by one and then put them back together forming the number of strands you want.

If you want to use 3 strands at a time. Separate 3 from the 6 one by one, and then put them back together.

Because 6 stranded thread comes with twisted strands, they are prone to tangling. If you try to separate 3 strands from the other 3 in the bunch in one go, chances are you’ll encounter mess.

Another reason for doing this is a more consistent look of your stitches. It just looks better, and easier to work with if you do this.

Pulling thread from the side of the skein with the barcode is the way to do it neatly. This isn’t guaranteed to work on other brands of thread rather than DMC or Anchor. But the general rule is that there’s only one end you’re meant to pull from, just have to guess correctly if you’re not using DMC or Anchor.

In my next post I’ll be going through types of needles, sizes, how sizes work, and what needle sizes you should use for the different amounts of strands.
Let me know what other topics you's like me to cover. ❤️