I am still not sure what to stitch next. As part of the stash archaeology portion of the planning process, I did a quick rummage through my accumulated threads. And I’ve been collecting them since grade school.

This box holds a mix of all sorts of things. Most date back to about 1966 when I first got an allowance, but it’s mostly full and partial skeins of J&P Coats Deluxe 6-strand embroidery floss and DMC 6-strand embroidery floss. I’ve got some older bits in there, too – legacy from my grandmother Pauline’s stash.

There is also a handful of Madeira 6-strand floss mixed in. I’ve never actually bought that brand, so I suspect it was second-hand stash that was given to me, or that I found at a yard sale. An interesting detail is that Madeira is now known for specialty packaging (in addition to thread quality), but the put-up I have in this scrum is all pull skeins. I can find no information on when the company changed over to the specialty packaging, but I suspect I acquired these stray skeins no later than 1985.

Other oddments include some soutache left over from SCA dresses done in the late 1960s, plus hose spools of variegated color silk (or possibly rayon) machine embroidery thread. They are end spool spoils, discarded as being insufficient for industrial use, but salvaged by my grandmother Minnie (the union seamstress/machine operator) for personal use, before she retired in the mid 1960s.

The oldest in the collection? These.

I have about a dozen different colors of the that JP Coats Deluxe, all with the 10-cent price on the skein band itself, but this indistinct tannish grey one had the clearest label. From the price and the color (purchased to stitch a bunny on a pair of 6th grade jeans), I can say with authority that I bought it in 1968.

The purple one is Lily 6-ply cotton floss, one of the grandma-Pauline-hand-me-downs. Although embroidery floss is still marketed under that name, it hasn’t been made by Lily itself since the 1960s. From the style of the typography on the wrapper, my guess is that this was purchased in the 1950s. The blue skein is Cynthia 6-ply cotton floss. I can find nothing about that brand or the possible maker. Dating again from the typography, I’d say that one is even older than the purple skein, and is another Pauline-leftover.

But that’s not all. In the past 10 years or so I’ve been the recipient of quite a few stashes, as friends and coworkers came into crafts supply inheritances they were not interested in keeping. And I’ve pursued several free trades or secondhand purchases via the local on-line yard sale lists. For example, some of the thread below was tossed in when I bought my second Lowery floor stand.

This material is a jumble of leftovers. Some of it is wound on bobbins (not my preferred system of storage), other is still in the original form factor. Most of it is single or partial skeins. Almost all of it is standard cotton floss, mostly DMC and Anchor. A small amount sparkly fleck special effects thread is mixed in, but no true metallics. There’s also a bit of white-labeled “craft floss” – inexpensive imports sold in multicolor packs at big box crafts stores. That’s best suited for braiding friendship bracelets since it’s usually short staple, and not of proven washability. Of note is that special packaging for Madeira, right there at the center bottom. That’s quality stuff, all full packs, and probably what I would use first of all of this bounty.

Now, my two leading possibilities for ground.

First, a lovely 19 x 27 inch (48.26 x 68.58 cm) piece of 40-count linen – a holiday present from my spawn, who enable me when they can. I’m very impressed by the vendor, whoever it was. Not only is the stuff cut exactly on true, it’s also neatly serged on three sides, with the fourth being selvedge. Usually I have to true the piece and hem myself. From the particular form of the orange stripe and line of blue stitching along the selvedge I think it might be Newcastle linen, but other firms do orange stripes, too.

The candidate on top of the linen is a yet another free trade/adoption acquisition. I have two lengths of this edged narrow weave, both about 6.25 inches x 5 yards (15.87 cm x 4.57 meters). The effective stitching area however is 4.875 inches wide (123.83 cm) due to the fancy brocaded borders.

I had been thinking of doing a squared off blouse yoke with it, but that would work better if the stuff was narrower. I’m not up for doing curtains or edging a trailing hem with this. The width is also a bit problematic for many other uses on clothing. About the only thing I can imagine is running it across the top of two wingspan wide to-the-knee lengths of linen, and fastening it at strategic points to make a peplos-like summer swing top/beach living cover-up. Hmmm… that might just work. And summer wearables should be done in washable thread, not the red silk. I don’t have enough of any one color in my ancient stash of cottons, although I’ve got plenty of black in my current on-deck stash….

So, what am I left with after this open bit of nostalgia and mental dithering?

If the peplos idea doesn’t firm up, I’ll probably prep the linen for stitching – establishing basted edges and center lines for the embroidery, but I’m not sure WHAT to stitch. Inhabited blackwork like the Unstitched Coif? Another randomly composed piece combining bands, motifs, and fills, done at whim (but with no motto)? In the Madeira colors, or in red silk?

Yet another wall hanging. A one of a kind wearable just for me. Decisions, decisions….

Input, other ideas, hoots of derision all gratefully accepted.