Metal Threads

NEW!  Gilt Folien Die Stamped pieces:

Gilt Folien No 411 - small cup shaped die cut spangles that are patterned on both sides.  They can be held down with a bead, stitches, or a large french knot.  1 gram (approx. 20-24 in bag).

Gilt Folien No 198 - small flower shaped die cut pieces that are held down by stitch over them 2-3 times with a gold or colored thread.  1/2 gram (about 14) or 1 gram packages (about 28).  

This is one of the most exciting product finds in years for me - spangles that are shaped!  These spangles are made the way our normal ones are, but are then stamped with a die again to make them either textured or have a flower type shape.  There are two which were sent in the Frostings Box 6 (No. 22 and No. 24) and two NEW ones (No 27 and No 23).  

They are gilt and packaged in bags of 1 gram each.  They are almost 4-5 mm in diameter.  Depending on the spangle type, there are between 20-23 per gram.

You can imagine all kinds of ways to embellish them by using colored thread to secure them, a colored silk purl chip, a bead, etc.

Christmas Baubles stitchers - the Gold Bullion/Silver Check Cord No 6 can be substituted for the Gold Bullion/Check No. 9.  It is the same size and looks wonderful.

I have added many plates that found at Benton and Johnson on my recent trip.  They are in limited quantity. 

Others are the extra plates and trims from the Frostings Box 6 and 7.  The plates are gilt and are embossed with patterns or wrapped with a gold thread.  They can be couched down or couched and folded over a felt or paper shape.  

The gilt or silver trims are perfect to use to edge ornaments! Made from bullions or checks wrapped around a wire, they can hold a shape and be couched as a trim or outline.  They are wonderful around the outside of a Christmas ornament.

I was able to get a new supply of gilt and silver-plated spangles in the 2mm and 3mm diameter.  

Small packages (~80 spangles or 1 gram) of what I consider to be the most versatile size of gilt spangles - F4. They are 2.1 mm in diameter and are a nice balance of small scale while allowing a needle to pass through the center. Because of their small scale, they would well when used in the background to fill in areas of stumpwork without looking out of place. The second picture shows an entire 5 gram quantity.

A new addition is a 2% Gold version of the 9 drm tambour, which is a more durable gold thread because of a thicker gold layer.

9 drm Gilt and 90% Silver Tambours (used on the Plimoth Jacket) were designed as metal bobbin lace threads.  They can also be used as passings for small scale stitches.  The scale of the threads, when paired and twisted in bobbin lace, produces the perfect reproduction thickness.  90% silver is used to prolong the lifetime of the metal appearance, as tarnishing is a natural occurrence for metal threads and was during the 17th century as well.

The tubes are 25 grams each.  We used a little over three tubes of each of the 9 drm Tambours to make all the bobbin lace for the Plimoth jacket. The lace is 1 1/4" deep and runs over several yards in length. 

These faux threads are my favorites for working 17th century metal stitches such as the plaited braid, reverse chain, ceylon, ladder and the like when learning. The faux set is great for learning the stitches before you progress to working with the more expensive real metal threads. 

These threads should be used with a Japanese needle as it will both keep the thread from shreading in the needle and will open a nice hole in your linen to pull the thread through. The #9/10 Japanese needle works well for the all these Wyres. 

There are 15 meters per tube

These real metal threads are my current favorites for working 17th century metal stitches such as the plaited braid, reverse chain, ceylon, ladder and the like. These threads were reproduced to work the plaited braid for the Plimoth Jacket Project. 

These threads should be used with a Japanese needle as it will both keep the thread from shreading in the needle and will open a nice hole in your linen to pull the thread through. The #9/10 Japanese needle works well for the #4 Smooth Passing.

Size: Each tube has 18 meters on a spool

These spangles are made by Mark Atchison, the same blacksmith who made the spangles for the Plimoth Jacket, in the same way!  Now they are available in large enough quantities for gold and silver lace projects.  Authentic in every way, from the periodic nips in the bottom of the tear drop shape to the flat edges that come from the historic process here and there.  Mark hand punches each one out from a gilt silver.  

If you ever wanted to rim your project with authentic metal bobbin lace, the 9drm Gilt and 90% Silver Tambour threads in the shop were developed for the Plimoth Jacket lace and work perfectly with these spangles.

The spangles are sold per piece so you can get just the right number for your lace pattern and length.

A selection of stiff purls and lizardine, used for outlining as well as different checks and purls (also known as bullions) in gilt.  

All are 1 yard boxes unless noted.  Gilt Bright Check Purl #7, Gilt Special Diamond Check, Silver Bullion #2 and No7 Wire Check Silver Plated are at least 18 inches long.

The color names go from dark to light for individual spools

The following colors are now inactive by the manufacturer:  Celestyne, Beaver, Isabella, Sea Water.  That means no stock of silk to produce and no plans to produce.

The Gilt Plate Sampler 2 contains four yards of gilt and silver plated plate in the 11S size. There is one yard each of gilt and silver plated 11S plate as well as one yard each of this size crenelated.

The Zig Zag Trims are available in a combination box with a meter length of a gold tone and silver tone metal trim. These are antique french trims which replicate the same trim found in the grotto ponds on stumpwork pieces in England. The trim can be used to edge dresses, replicate water, or anything else you can think of. The trims are copper and brass based and will tarnish over a long period of time, like the originals. The width of the trim is 2 mm, the metal is 0.75 mm wide, and the peak to peak width of the undulation is 3 mm. It can be couched down with TIRE Silk Threads Size 50.

The textured silver zig zag trim is in a box with two yards of the trim. This is an antique french trim which has been run through a textured roller to facet the surface. The surface provides a sparkle like little diamonds which would be very useful for water, fountain sprays, grottos and dress trims in stumpwork.

This is a very fine, tightly twisted filament silk that is extremely useful when couching silk wrapped purls, gold threads, and attaching spangles. The neutral gold color blends in with any metal thread couching and its small size (yet strong) enables it to disappear when using it with silk wrapped purls. I find that I would rather use one thread for all these uses than continually change the thread in my needle. Each spool has 109 yards on it. 

There is gold (either #86 or it's replacement #74) and silver (#28).

These threads are my current favorites for working 17th century metal stitches such as the plaited braid, reverse chain, ceylon, ladder and working backgrounds in Gobelin stitches. 

Gilt Special Tambour (on cotton), Gilt 6-end silk and 90% Silver 6-end silk. The 6-end silk is slightly thinner than the special tambour.  These are all 25 gram spools.

These three threads were made for me so I could work goblin stitch for the backgrounds of 17th century pieces. Many sweet bags have this treatment. The Gilt Special Tambour also makes a very fine and pleasing plaited braid.

A note on amounts. The finer threads are sold by grams and I do not know the exact number of meters for each. I can give a guide: A tube of Special Tambour will cover approximately 26 square inches of linen in half cross over two. 

Shopping for someone else but not sure what to give them? Give them the gift of choice with a Thistle Threads Gift Card.

Gift cards are delivered by email and contain instructions to redeem them at checkout. Our gift cards have no additional processing fees.