The DMC company love a seasonal product! From themed thread packs, to seasonal bundles. But they tend to be only that; bundles and packs. However, this year DMC are doing something new; they’re launching new products. And they’re focusing on fabric. And mostly printed fabric.
 
If you’re not aware, you can actually print on aida at home with a standard printer. This allows you to make fantastic themed aida which you can stitch on top of; giving your work a greater punch, and making it much more unique!
So when the DMC company first launched their printed range of fabrics back in May, with 3 rather uninspiring prints, no one really cared. In fact, their metallic aida, with strips of metal embedded in the fabric made more of a stir!
Although, this was partly due to how hard it was to stitch on. It effectively feels like sandpaper.

 
But it appears DMC is listening! Following hot on their heels were a new set of printed aidas; ones that are actually worth a look.
 
Whilst you can print on aida at home, and do a really good job! There are a few things that don’t work. And the big one is anything reflective. That’s why something like the metallic aida idea had legs (although not well done). The metallic element adds a bit of sparkle that elevates beyond something you can do at home.
In comes DMC printed aida!
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Somehow, and I’m still not sure how, DMC have managed to add reflective elements into the printed aida itself. This gives the aida not only an interesting look, but a sparkle without making it horrible to stitch on! No more sandpaper aida…

 
Modeled on gemstones, the 4 new styles all have a golden or silver element running through them that truly makes them special. They stitch up well, and even though their model stitching leave a lot to be desired (yikes!) they are worth picking up.
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But what does this mean for the future of cross stitch? Well in our next year in cross stitch roundup at the start of the year, we anticipated some new launches from DMC. We weren’t 100% sure what though, and our best guess was a possible new range of unique, but ultimately unused threads, akin to Etoile or Coloris.
Fabric wasn’t on our minds. But we were clearly wrong.

 
Printed aida has massively bloomed in the last year, with Etsy listings going up 3400% since January!
You can buy pretty much anything from glow-in-the-dark aida, to blood splatter aida, space aida, sky aida and everything else you can think of! It’s quite clear that printed aida is here to stay.
But with DMCs new metallic enriched printed aida, we may just have found the big new thing!
 

 
If you want to pick up your own new printed aida from DMC, the official DMC website or the best online cross stitch stores all carry them.