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| Entice in Many Colors |
Have you tried Rainbow Gallery's new Entice yet? Entice is a rayon thread with a bit of matching metallic woven into the strand. Here are the available colors. The photo above doesn't have them all, just the first set that Rainbow Gallery kindly sent me for review. Note there are many shades of gold, blue, green, and purple plus several reds and pinks as well as black and white and cream.
http://www.rainbowgallery.com/detail.cfm?id=1347
I don't really like rayon threads much so I am not that experienced with them. Therefore I enlisted Pat Miller of the Needleart Nut blog to help me with this review. My first thought was how does Entice differ from Twinkle and Silk Lame Braid? Pat's used Twinkle, a similar rayon-metallic thread from Gone Stitching. She says Twinkle has only one strand of sparkle so that the metallic isn't always on top when you are stitching. There are 37 colors of Twinkle and only 23 of Entice right now. (I'm writing this in July 2015.) Twinkle doesn't unravel much at the cut end (Entice does that Big Time) , the metallic doesn't unwind, and Twinkle is about the same diameter as size 8 perle cotton. I think Entice is a bit fatter, sort of larger than size 8 perle but smaller than size 5 perle cotton. Twinkle has good coverage on 18 count and isn't hard to pull through the holes. It doesn't snag on dry hands either.
http://www.gonestitching.net/new/index.php/supplies/threads/twinkle-threads.html
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| Close Up of Pat's Fiery Brazil |
Pat says that Twinkle has less metallic than Entice does. She used both on one of Leigh Designs' Jungle Heat pieces and loaned me a photograph that shows both of them. The green stems and caps are Entice and the black leaves are in Twinkle. Pat says Twinkle does twinkle in the light but Entice is more generally shiny. By the way, the bits of light pink flower petal in the upper left are Silk Lame Braid so you can see all three threads in Pat's photograph. Here's a larger version from the Leigh Designs' website.
http://www.leighdesigns.com/Mdl6303.html
Speaking of Silk Lame Braid, it is similar to Entice when it comes to the bits of metallic but the rayon of Entice is shinier than the silk in Silk Lame Braid. Of course Silk Lame Braid comes in three sizes and Entice only one. Entice is a bit fat for 18 count but if you use Silk Lame Braid you can choose a size. I imagine you can pull out a strand from both threads to make it smaller but I don't like to do that personally as the thread becomes unruly in my hands. (Other people do this successfully. I am just clumsy I think.) I discovered on 13 count Entice works very well, with little snagging and less unraveling at the cut end. On 18 count I had more trouble with the unraveling. I've not used my Thread Zapper to burn the end to see if that helps the fraying as mine died and I just replaced it, but if you use a large needle (size 18 or 20 are best) and short lengths, the fraying and unraveling of Entice as you work with it is minimized. It's perfect for 13 count, though a larger needle helps here, too.
When it comes to sparkle, Entice looks like a softer version of Kreinik metallic. On the sparkle spectrum, Kreinik has the most bling, Entice is next, with Twinkle and Silk Lame Braid bringing up the rear with a slight edge to Twinkle as the rayon is a little shinier than the silk in Silk Lame Braid (although there is more metallic showing in Silk Lame Braid).
I like Entice although I like it better for 13 count than 18 count. I don't have any experience with Twinkle but hopefully Pat's experience and photographs will help you choose between these threads and Silk Lame Braid and Kreinik so you can find just the right amount of sparkle for your next project.
Many thanks to Pat Miller for her help with this review! Do visit Pat's blog for more stitching fun!
http://needleartnut.blogspot.com
Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright July 14, 2015 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.
