The lovely people over at hobbii emailed me to see if I wanted to try out their new line of embroidery yarns. And of course I said yes!
When I teach embroidery workshops, attendees often ask about types of embroidery thread. In my classes and embroidery kits, I use DMC, because it's what's available at most craft stores in the US, it comes in a wide selection of colors, and it's colorfast (meaning the colors shouldn't bleed when wet.)
In my personal work, I love exploring different thread options. While 6-strand cotton is pretty common in the needlework world, there are also silk threads, variegated threads, naturally dyed threads, and so many other fun thread possibilities out there.
If you're first starting with hand embroidery, the 6-strand cotton thread is a good place to start, because it's inexpensive and most craft stores have some variation of this thread.
About hobbi embroidery yarn
hobbii's new embroidery yarns are similar to most 6-strand cotton threads. Their thread is Egyptian cotton and available in 8.7 yard skeins. Unlike most brands I've seen, these threads are only available in pre-selected color packs of 12 skeins.
hobbii has 7 color packs of embroidery yarns to choose from. There color options lean towards the bright and playful. If you're looking for subtle or neutral, these probably aren't the colors for you right now. But they have a little bit of everything in the rainbow, including a few browns, blacks, creams, and white threads.
According to the hobbii website, a pack of 12 assorted embroidery yarns retails for $23, making it about $1.91/skein of thread. This is on the pricier side for most cotton embroidery threads in the US. I pulled colors from multiple packs to bring my design together.
hobbii sent me a huge selection of their embroidery yarns, so I thankfully didn't have to choose between color packs.
Stitching with hobbii embroidery yarn
I drew a freehand botanical design to try out these embroidery yarns and went to town. The thread was very soft and easy to pull from the skein. By the second or third skein, I realized there is a right and wrong end to pull from so that the skein didn't tangle. (It's the side with the barcode.)
The thread was also very easy to separate. Unlike some other thread brands, I was able to pull apart multiple threads at a time without getting a tangly mess of thread. YEAH!
For my sample project, I used varying weights of thread and surface hand embroidery stitches to see how they'd stitch with and lay on the fabric. I started with 6 strands of thread, then used 4, 3, and 2. I also blended threads together.
Because I drew my pattern with a heat erasable pen, I used a blow-dryer to remove any design lines. This worked fine with the hobbii embroidery yarn.
Is hobbii embroidery yarn colorfast?
I was unsure if the thread would be colorfast, based on the washing/care symbols on the thread. Many of my stitching projects need to be washed or at least have the stabilizer rinsed away, so having a colorfast thread is very important for me. I stitched a spare piece of fabric and made a few test stitches, then I ran the stitching under cold, warm, and very hot water. I didn't see any color bleeding!
My overall thoughts on hobbii embroidery yarn
Overall, the embroidery yarn stitched nicely and was easy to work with. Iloved that the thread split apart easily. I found that the 6 strands of thread didn't want to lay as flush with the fabric and I got a few more tangles than usual with my thread. But the few strands stitched nicely and had less of an issue.
Overall, hobbii embroidery yarns are lovely to stitch with.
I'm not sure I'd spend the extra money on this thread vs. another 6-strand cotton brand, when purchasing thread in the US, however, it was fun to try something new!
hobbii is based in Copenhagen, Denmark. Their small team creates a wide variety of yarns for knitting, crochet, and now embroidery. According to the packagaing, hobbii embroidery yarn is made in Brazil.