Pearl Cotton in Embroidery

Pearl cotton is a non-divisible, tightly twisted, glossy single-strand cotton; stitches look round and full and there are no strands to separate. This category carries DMC pearl cotton No 5 (thick skein), No 8 and No 12 (balls) in the full colour card and the matte, untwisted DMC Floche. Colour codes match DMC floss. The full range is in DMC Pearl Cotton.

Which Size for Which Stitch?

No 5 for satin, chain and textured filling stitches, hardanger and bold outlines; No 8 for blackwork, fine satin stitch and 14 ct Aida; No 12 for detail, lace and crochet. The higher the number, the finer the thread. Pearl cotton takes a size 5–7 embroidery needle on heavy fabric or a size 22–24 blunt needle on Aida, and makes large, even French knots.