The 447 colors of floss for Friendship Bracelets

Creating a color sample set

A while back I had an idea. An idea so brilliant that I’m going to recommend it. Now I’m very aware of the original DMC color charts with real thread. My idea was designed more for being creative, especially when you’re trying to mix and match colors to create an amazing new friendship bracelet project.

Things needed

You will need the storage boxes, 447 bobbins and a skein of each color. Before you say that DMC has more than 447 colors, I went with what my supplier carries, which is the original 447.

These are the plastic ones. Now I’m trying to cut down in my use of plastics, but taking into account that these get handled regularly and will be kept for many years and that the cardboard ones just don’t hold up for long, I figure it’s acceptable.

Personal experience

Not that you have to do this, but this is what I did and I think it’s worth trying. I cut each 8-meter skein into quarters. If you didn’t do that you would need 4 boxes to fit them all in and you don’t need a full skein to figure out what colors you’re looking for. Since I only wound on the bobbin 2 of the 8 meters of floss, I could fit them all into just the two boxes and had enough left to make a lot of bracelets. I then sold those bracelets and made enough to pay for this project.

Advantages

Color charts are great and I’m not saying you shouldn’t own them. In fact, they offer ideas for some great fades, but if you needed to pick out one color more to make that design you have your heart set on, then the charts are going to be difficult. My 447 sample boxes offer me the chance to mix them around and try new ideas. My wife likes to organize them into color groupings, while I tend to make more of a mess as I’m looking for something exciting or different. After 30 years of making friendship bracelets, finding the combination you haven’t done becomes a challenge.