Annies keepers

MichelleB

Has anyone else used Annies keepers for storing their threads?

1debbie2

no Im sorry

MichelleB

thanks anyway

pandora76

I use them and like them better than putting my thread on bobbins.  I carefully measure out the thread before cutting a skein to get 9 lengths of about 35" long.  That length works for using the loop method to start or if Im blending two colors then the threads are already cut to the same length.  I use a file folder box to store all my threads and they are very accessible and kept clean in the box.  If I have a travel project then I just put the colors I need on a slide to take with me.  For some colors I have more than one Annies Keeper if I need the color for both my travel project and one of the projects I work on at home.  If I have a project that uses a ton of colors (like Teresa Wentzler) then I transfer precut lengths to a Pako thread organizer that makes it easy to store 50 colors on the same organizer.  

MichelleB

thank you so much, youve helped alot

GrannyNeedle55

Wow, I cant believe how organized some of you are....well, I can believe it.  Im just not one of them.  Perhaps I will get better.:o

cute.panda.sue

I havent used it, but Ive looked into it. And while I do see some upsides to it, I dont think it is for me. The way that is stored is similar to how Dimensions thread comes presorted. The upside is that you have everything pre-cut to the length you like. For me, there are more downsides than upsides.

1) The cost. A 50 pac for $19, 100 pac for $24, and 300 pac for $57. I can save money by buying the plastic bobbins on ebay. 500 for $10 + shipping. Also, the storage boxes for these bobbins are cheap as well. At Michaels 1 box is $3, and it has many compartments for you to organize as you wish. So for the entire line of DMC threads, (454 colours I believe) you would  need 5 boxes. I can have the entire line stored for around $30.

2) You have to have it on the sorter ring, otherwise it just gets jumbled up in your storage box. If you want to take out the numbers you need for one project and put it on one individual ring, you will have to remove ALL the ones next to it, and then put them ALL back. When you are replacing them, you will need to remove ALL of the ones in the numerical sequence, and then put them all back... I just dont have that patience.

3) When I was using the Dimensions one, where they have all the threads in bundles, the bottom of the threads tangle. Not too bad, but if you have a whole bunch of them on one ring, it might get annoying (at least it is for me).

4) Looking from the picture of how its stored, you have to untie all of the thread, and retie it back anytime you want to remove one piece of floss.

5) Im a big klutz. and sometimes I spill things... So I keep everything except the one im not using back in the storage box. If I have the entire ring of the floss with my projects out and I pill something on it, its going to ruin all of them. (and for me, the entire ring WOULD be out, because I dont want to take it out, sort through it, remove one, tie the rest back, take out one strand, tie the left over back, and then put the whole ring back in a box.

6) Storage space. To keep it neat and tidy and easy to find, I dont think the "rings" would work for me, I would have to use the storage slide they have. (The storage slides are 10 slides or $13 each able to keep 16. So if I am storing the entire DMC line, I would need 29 slides...which will cost an additional $39.) And I would need the larger clear plastic art boxes which cost usually $10 or more to store (Im guessing) 10 slides per. I wouldnt even want to store more than that because I dont want to fight with the tangled mess.

Obviously, these are just my own concerns and why I wouldnt use this system. But it works for many other people. Im in no way telling you that you shouldnt get this, just giving you a few things you might want to put into consideration before plunking down a chunk of money to change from whatever system you may already have.

Jazzi

Wow, I had to "Google" this because Ive never heard of Annies Keepers. Not for me even though I already use a "similar" system. I use the "Floss A Way" system and have for over 20 years. The floss is kept in small zippered plastic bags that has a hole in the zippered edge (on the other side from where the floss is kept) and there is a space for the name and number. I use them for my DMC and I have them sorted by 100s or 1000s depending on the color. I have 200s together, 300s and so on stored on rings. The rings are then stored in plastic shoe box type boxes. I have them labelled on the outside as well.

I had seriously thought about changing to the little bobbins and all, however after considering the amount of time it would take for me to wind all of the bobbins and re-label I realized that it was time that I would rather be stitching then re-doing something that works for me.

I had quit cross stitching and started other crafts about 25 years ago, then about 6 months ago I thought about doing cross stitch again and was pleasantly surprised to find that all of floss that was stored in the Floss A Way bags was in fantastic shape and looked good as new. So that was the end of that dilemma.

tuanbao2012

Wonderful, thanks so much!

Nxerri

wow learnt about many good ways of storing since I am quite disorganised and dont really have a system yet!