Hello spiders A couple of years ago a friend gave me samples of all the Empress Mills 100% cottons which she had in her stash. The measurements were: 60s (white) 3Z 32 w/cm 60s (ecru) 3Z 31 w/cm 50s (white) 3Z 29 w/cm 50s (ecru) 3Z 27 w/cm 40s (white) 3Z 27 w/cm 40s (ecru) 3Z 26 w/cm 30s (white) 3Z 22 w/cm30s (ecru) 3Z 23 w/cm 24s (white) 3Z 21 w/cm24s (ecru) 3Z 20 w/cm 18s (white) 3Z 18 w/cm18s (ecru) 3Z 17 w/cm 170s chain 2Z 36 w/cm
All very consistent and confirmed Valerie's view that with the Empress Mills cottons the white is a little finer than the ecru. That does sometimes happen, I think that bleaching takes away from the fibres whilst dying adds to them. So far so good but because of the following I have looked at them all again and I am happy with those measurements, which are all on the Addendum 5 list. A few days ago another friend purchased, by mail order, some cotton threads from Empress Mills and has lent them to me to look at. She also lent me the current price list - sizes 18s and 24s have been discontinued and replaced by 20s - well that sort of thing happens, and all of the sizes are now available in soft finish or mercerised. I'm not sure what the original samples were. What Peta ordered was (I have the invoice here in front of me so I am certain of this): 100% cotton soft finish 20s white 100% cotton mercerised 40s white 100% cotton soft finish 60s white 170 chain What she received was: 1 reel with two labels - 30s 100% cotton and a hand written one 20' Cotton or maybe ZO' Cotton 1 reel - 40s 100% cotton 1 reel - 60s 100% cotton 1 reel with no label 1 reel 170s chain I have just measured these five threads. The one with two labels is 3S 15 w/cm - thicker than any of the samples from Valerie and spun in the opposite direction 40s 100% cotton is 3S 23 w/cm - a bit thicker than the first sample and spun in the opposite direction 60s 100% cotton is 3Z 32 w/cm - exactly the same as the first sample the no label reel is 3Z 23 w/cm - just one wrap different to the first sample of 30s white and the same as the 30s ecru 170s is 2S 45 w/cm - much finer than the first sample It is just possible that Valerie mis-labelled the samples she sent to me but I think that is unlikely as everything was so consistent. There is no indication on what she sent, nor on the labels of the spools I have in front of me, as to whether the threads are soft finish or mercerised. I am inclined to think that maybe the Z spun threads are mercerised, for use with sewing machines, and the S spun threads are soft finish, for hand sewing. Certainly the two-label reel is soft finish, but I'm not really sure about the others although they all look very similar to each other. Does anyone else have any of these threads that they could look at please - direction of spin only, no need to make a wrapping. Brenda in Allhallows www.brendapaternoster.co.uk - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://community.webshots.com/user/arachne2003
