Embroidery Thread Inventory Checklists
The longer you spend in the cross stitch hobby, the more thread you just end up collecting over time. And inevitably you end up buying duplicates of colors because you didn’t know you already had them. Or because you couldn’t find the one you had. If that sounds familiar, it might be time to take a thread inventory.
That said, one thing I noticed while putting together my bobbin label files is that there’s really not many good lists of colors out there for anything other than major brands like DMC. Trust me, there’s plenty of DMC but I tried to add some value there too, so consider giving it a look even if you’ve already got a favorite DMC spreadsheet.
I spent hours cross referencing shops for brands like CARON, Dinky Dyes, Weeks Dye Works, and so forth to make my stickers, and even a bead list for Mill Hill! And then I spent the last year cleaning up my spreadsheets for your use. I’ll be adding to these brands as I go, and adding additional categories like more sizes of Mill Hill beads. So if you don’t see what you’re looking for here, be sure to check back.
Now, to make Google happy I do have to type a whole lot of words as if this was a recipe blog describing my my entire life story just to give you a list of ingredients and a few simple steps. So please do use the Table of Contents to skip ahead to the brand you need.
Table of Contents
What Makes This Thread Inventory Different?
While I don’t guarantee any of these are in any way ‘perfect’, I did my best to cross reference several different sites and lists to ensure I have as many thread colors included as I could find. Each sheet will have its own credits tab letting you know exactly where and when I pulled this information from.
I also went out of my way to painstakingly add images for all variegated and specialty threads, so I’ve included credits of where I got those images from. No, I did not take all my own photos as neither have the thread nor the time to do them all myself, so size differences in images is can’t be helped.
Lastly, I did try to include discontinued threads where I could find them (clearly labeled as such, of course). But for some brands there simply isn’t information on discontinued colors! I did my best. But feel free to let me know if I got something wrong and I’ll do my best to fact check and then correct it.
Why Google Sheets?
Why not a native Excel file? Why not a Notion template? Airtable? etc?
Trust me, all of these have their place and I use them for a lot of my own project planning. But Google Sheets is free, easily accessible from both pc and phone, and well known by even the less tech savvy. I want these lists to be accessible to as many people as possible. Feel free to use the data I’ve collected to build your own lists in the program of your choice.
How to Use & Customize Each Thread Inventory
Google Spreadsheets can be somewhat daunting if you’re not used to it, but you really don’t need to know a lot to use them. Here I’ll go over the basics. But if you have specific questions feel free to ask me, or over on the Pixel Stitch Discord and we’ll do our best to help you customize these sheets to fit your needs.
Making A Copy Of My Checklists
For those of you not familiar with Google Sheets, here’s a few things you should know.
You won’t be able to edit the inventory on the links below. You first need to copy it over to your own Google account.
From the file menu, select Make a Copy and name that whatever you’d like. Now you can edit it as you so choose.
Customizing Your Copy
Once you’ve got it copied over to your account, you can edit it however you choose.
For example, rather than a ‘Location’ tab to indicate if you have a particular thread kitted, you might instead have a column for Bobbins. For example: my personal inventory sheet has a column on the DMC sheet for my main set of bobbins, one for backup skeins, one for partially used skeins, one for my thrifted threads (which I’m not sure of dye lots for), and a column for how many I need next time I do a thread purchase.
To add a column, just right click one of the letters at the top and ‘insert 1 column’ to the left or right, whichever you prefer. Then you can rename it up at the top.
Sorting Your List
By default, the lists come sorted by Number. Some of the sheets have the ability to sort by Color. Or you might choose to sort by how many skeins of each you have so you can easily see what you’re still missing or what you could use extra of.
To sort, just click the little arrow next to the column name and select to sort. If a column is all numbers, “Sort A to Z” actually sorts in numerical order, aka 1 to 9. Meanwhile “Sort Z to A” would sort numbers from largest to smallest, aka 9 to 1.
Adding Additional Tabs
Okay but what if you want one sheet with all the different brands you own? Chances are you don’t need every tab from every sheet. Instead, just copy over the tabs you need from each brand.
For example, from the CARON collection, I only need the Waterlilies and Snow tabs. So I right clicked those tabs and copied them to an existing spreadsheet (in this case, the copy of the DMC list I had already made). Here’s what that looks like:
If I get some CARON Soie Cristale later on, I’ll just go back to the main sheet found on this page and copy that tab over.
Will I Add New Colors?
If you’re finding these lists in March or April, chances are there’s new colors for some of these brands that were announced at Nashville Market and haven’t yet been added. That happens basically every year, but I’ll get them added as soon as I can!
I also have to update all my sticker sheets for my Etsy, so it takes quite a bit of time. You can always check the credits tab for each sheet to see when I last updated it.
Anyway, let’s get on to the actual Checklists!
DMC Thread Inventory Checklist
Ah yes, the behemoth that is DMC. It’s easy to purchase, it’s relatively consistent in colors, and 90% of purchasable patterns reference their colors. There’s already plenty of checklists out there, so I’ll keep this brief. Not only do I list all 500+ colors, but I also included a column that lets you sort by color rather than by number. As well as tabs for specialty and variegated threads with image swatches.
You have no idea how hard it was to find clear photos of some of those discontinued variegated threads. I actually had to take photos of my own collection as well. and I still can’t find a good photo of V127! Please let me know if you have it!
With DMC out of the way, the rest are in alphabetical order:
Anchor Inventory Checklist
This one is… very difficult to put together. I even own colors not on this list as I could not find any reference of them actually existing despite like, actually physically owning a skein. They could be ones only produced at the Anchor Threads India manufacturers and most lists come from the European manufacturers? I honestly don’t know. It’s a mystery to everybody. But I did what I could.
Since the brand was bought out by DMC in 2023, I have no idea if they plan to continue the brand as is, or slowly run it into the grounds. I guess time will tell.
CARON Collection Inventory Checklist
This list was probably my most time consuming. CARON has so many different types of thread and their website is quite dated. I did somehow manage to include tabs for Watercolours, Waterlilies, Wildflowers, Impressions, Soie Cristale, and Snow.
CARON Collection Inventory Checklist
There are other CARON lines not included, such as Rachelette and Antica. Maybe one day. But this thread inventory already took me WEEKS to assemble. Sorry.
Classic Colorworks Inventory Checklist
Previously known as Crescent Colors, Classic Colorworks has a relatively short list compared to some of the other brands here, but absolutely gorgeous. I included both the cotton and silk lines.
Classic Colorworks Inventory Checklist
Colour and Cotton Inventory Checklist
Colour and Cotton Threads is quite difficult to make a full list for. There’s the main line of thread that they frequently do new batches of and can be found at retailers, which is what I’ve included here.
Colour and Cotton Inventory Checklist
They also however have a Thread Club (that is often waitlisted) which ship out colors that are not listed anywhere else. Plus they sometimes offer Special Edition threads that are a limited run. If you have a Colour and Cotton thread not on this list, it’s possible it was from the thread club or a special edition. Or maybe it was just added during this year’s Nashville Market and I haven’t updated the list yet.
Cosmo Inventory Checklist
Lecien Cosmo is a brand I’ve talked about a lot already. This checklist is actually carried over from an article I did January 2024 as an inclusive resource for Cosmo threads in general. Not only did it include the checklist, but also a list of stores you can purchase the brand at, a breakdown of the different types of threads they sell, a DMC conversion chart, and WinStitch/MacStitch files. So if you want to learn more, check out the full Cosmo Threads article. If not, here’s just the spreadsheet:
CXC Inventory Checklist
CXC basically just uses the DMC numbers but without the discontinued threads and the newer 1-35 colors. So it’s basically the same list. But it felt weird to leave these out, so here you go:
Dinky Dyes Inventory Checklist
Dinky Dyes is an Australian dyer specializing in Silk threads. As such they’re well out of my price range and I only own 3. I did my best to list off all the Silk threads I could find, but did not i nclude the Perle or Jumbuck lines yet.
Dinky Dyes Inventory Checklist
Kreinik Inventory Checklist
Ah, Kreinik. My favorite metallic brand. This thread inventory gets a bit complicated as not all colors are available in all sizes. Also they have a LOT of different sizes of thread. As such, I only included the ones most commonly referenced in cross stitch. So Kreinik Braid #4 and #8, Blending Filament, and Silk Mori.
Will I add the others in the future? Maybe! But for now, you’ll have to do it yourself if that’s something you want to track. Sorry.
Mill Hill Inventory Checklist
Mill Hill is the odd one out, as it’s beads rather than thread. But also often referenced in cross stitch patterns, so it fits! That said, I’ve only so far listed the 11/0, 12/0 and 15/0 beads. Aka, Seed Beads, Antique beads, Petite Beads, Frosted Beads, and Magnifica Beads.
I do plan to eventually add more, like the Bugle beads and charms. But it may take a while.
Needlepoint Inc Inventory Checklist
Another Silk based company that is well beyond my price range, though I do own a few. That said, I don’t own nearly enough to try and retake photos. And uh, the photos I found online are… low resolution. Or I had to manually go in and chop larger images apart. So for now, the image quality is all over the place. But it’s a list!
Needlepoint Inc Inventory Checklist
Sullivans Inventory Checklist
Since Sullivans references DMC colors right on the skein, it’s clear that they’re trying to for the most part replicate DMC colors. However it’s not as easy as CXC which just uses the same numbers. So I’ve included a column with the DMC equivalent and one to sort the whole sheet by color.
The overdyed threads are in there as well, but finding photos of Sullivans metallics was tricky. I included what I could locate!
The Gentle Art Thread Inventory Checklist
There’s 3 main lines of Gentle Art Threads, the Sampler Threads, Simply Shaker, and Simply Wool.
The Gentle Art Inventory Checklist
I did not include any of their Limited Edition threads. So if you’re not finding one of your threads, that might be why!
Threadworx Thread Inventory Checklist
Threadworx mainly sells overdyed threads and has a wide range of thread types. They have Cotton and Pearl cotton, Metallics, and Silks.
I included as many as I could but it took AGES to import all these photos! This is probably one of the biggest files, so I recommend just copying the tabs for the thread types you actually use. My personal thread inventory for example just includes the Cotton and Kreinik Braid tabs!
Threadworx Inventory Checklist
Can you tell I’m starting to run out of things to say here in these descriptions?
Weeks Dye Works Inventory Checklist
Last alphabetically, but certainly not least! Weeks Dye Works is a fairly well known brand but there’s still often some common misconceptions here.
The thing I notice the most is people not knowing which category their threads fall into. I often get messages on Etsy from someone who bought the cheaper cottons set, only to find they have colors from the Holiday or Classic sets as well. They do actually have separate lines, and so this thread inventory seperates them out! And they’re labeled right on the card as you can see with my “Holiday Collection” threads pictured.
Weeks Dye Works Inventory Checklist
If you wanted to though you could combine the tabs into one long list though, that’s up to you.
