I regularly get contacted about how to age DMC threads, and I’m always willing to help as it normally opens up a whole interesting nest of information. This was exactly the case recently when someone managed to get their hands on some 1920s DMC threads that even DMC didn’t have copies of (more on that story in a few weeks).
But it made me realise that in the search of gaining a full set of DMC threads, many choose to buy second-hand threads (they are the best thead deals after all!) and many wonder exactly what the age of these threads are.
So without further ado, we look through history to detail how you can age your DMC threads!
The Evolution of DMC Thread Labels Through Time
DMC embroidery thread has been around for ages – 120 years to be exact! That’s a whole lot of stitching. And throughout the decades, the DMC label has gone through makeover after makeover.
There is a somewhat vintage vibe to DMC thread labels, but this is actually a rather recent invention. Originally, DMC threads were sold on spools, similar to Anchor’s recent failure to move to spools.
1910
However not long after the brand launched its threads, it realised demand would massively outstretch its ability to produce spools, so only 12 years after the threads launched in 1898, DMC moved from spools to skeins, and our story really begins!
1920s
While skeins did exist from roughly 1910, we don’t know much about how they looked. But there are a few things we do know. Firstly, there was only one wrapper, straight in the middle of the skein. But most interestingly, each skein was 7 yards, and not the 8.6 yards we’re familiar with now.
In the 1920s, as the DMC company started to expand beyond its initial sales area of France, the labels were updated to be uniform, and a little closer to how we know them today. With a very small bottom wrap added, and new dark blue color scheme, and the top wrap stating it was a “six strand” “7yrd” thread, the threads started to move across Europe.
1930s
1940s
Due to the war, there were almost no threads created this decade.
1950
In 1950, after selling 7-yard threads for over 50 years, DMC changed its plan and started selling skeins at 8.6 yards. In reality, the DMC company was simply updating to the metric system, and 8.6 yards is a nice 8 meters. Why exactly it took them 155 years to move to metric when the rest of France was already there is a bit beyond us, but with metric measurements now the standard, DMC updated their wraps to show 8.6 yards (yes, they didn’t mention meters, even though that was what they were moving to).
Other than that, the labels remained the same. However the 50s actually had a lot of change in these labels, and we wonder if maybe DMC wanted a slower update approach to not modernise too quickly.
1954
The next major change in the labels this decade was the bottom wrap, which increased in size, by roughly double. This was still smaller than the labels we know today but allowed DMC to place the color number vertically along the thread.
1958
However, the largest change was yet to come. In 1958 the DMC company really wanted to sell its brand. At this time, a lot of homegrown embroidery thread companies were gaining popularity in export countries, so DMC needed to cement itself as the big boy with history.
To sell this better, they added the DMC name to the bottom wraps, (for some reason) flipped the numbers on the bottom label, and changed the top wraps to the style we recognise today, with the “25” added and the measurement finally changed to 8m on the label.
1960
But this change didn’t last long, as in 1960, they updated the threads again. This time however they started to back-pedal.
They removed the previously added DMC name from the bottom label and then changed the now iconic label color to a bright blue.
Of all the threads out there, this is usually the rarest style to find, as the design lasted less than a year (we think 8 months) before it was changed yet again, back to its 1958 version in early 1961.
1961
A massive change was on the cards for the DMC company though.
Whilst we’ve not mentioned it, up to this point DMC wasn’t the largest player in the embroidery thread space. Its competitor, Thiriez & Cartier Bresson was.
Having over twice the threads Thiriez & Cartier Bresson was without a doubt the go-to embroidery thread company for and stitcher. But with a very small sewing thread selection, Thiriez & Cartier Bresson started to struggle.
It’s not known who approached who, but in early 1960 the discussion to merge was on the cards (making the 1960 label changes an even weirder choice), and in late 1961 it finally happened.
This change brought with it many changes in the company, with the addition of the horse head logo (from Thiriez & Cartier Bresson) and a change of name from “Dollfus-Mieg & Cie” to simply “DMC”. Whilst this name was back peddled over the next few decades, in the 60s, the name remained simply as DMC.
1963
The range also expanded at this time, adding in numbers 3000+ (yes, this is why there is a MASSIVE gap between numbers) as well as many 700 to 900 threads which were renumbered to fit into the previous DMC range.
1968
In 1968, as modernisation of the factory was rolled out, a minor change in the font on the number label was added.
1973
In 1973 however, the DMC thread really started to look like the modern ones we know. In 1972 the first ever barcode was rolled out in the UK. Less than a year later, DMC had added it to their threads too. It originally used a standardised barcode across all of its threads (number 077540050857) and is a nice way to identify the age of threads (this barcode number was moved to DMC 310, so if it’s not 310, then its somewhere between 1973 and 1982).
It also added a dirty yellow color to the bottom banner, the number was moved back to perpendicular to the skein (not seen since 1953) with a small line under it (note that not all threads of this age have the line; we don’t know what it stands for).
1973 to 1982
Between the years of 1973 and 1982, the barcodes were updated to each thread having its own code. The bottom wraps also gained a plastic coating. The top wraps remained paper only.
1982
In 1982, the next update came, with a simple change in the design of the bottom wrap. The ugly yellow was gone, replaced with crisp white, and gold banners were added around the edge.
Full stops were added after some numbers (not all), the plastic was now much thicker on the bottom labels, and the top labels were also plastic.
2000
In the millennium, DMC went with a temporary change, with all threads made between 1999, and 2000 using a new design. The top label was changed to a bright blue (not as bright as the 1960s labels) with a gold bow and banner.
Despite being a temporary thread, you can find many of these as people kept them as souvenirs or collectibles.
2002 (Modern DMC Threads)
Finally, in 2002, DMC moved to the design we now know. With fully plastic top and bottom wraps, the top wrap remained mostly unchanged, but did drop the “Coton a Broderie”. The bottom wrap went half black, and half light yellow (a throwback to its dirty yellow design back in 1973), and the gold banners were lost.
2022
It took over 20 years for another change to come to DMC thread labels, and it’s so subtle, that most people don’t know it happened.
The bottom banner gained two black bars around the number.
In this period, DMC also tried out adding a small strip on the top label that would go through the whole in the skein, but was quickly abandoned!
2024
The most recent change comes from late 2024. and mostly features some small changes.
On the bottom label, we see a slightly different font used for the numbers, slightly thinner. Oddly, the barcode font is slightly thicker now, but otherwise unchanged.
And finally, the biggest change this year was the logo on the top banner. The horse head moves above the M, no longer cradled within it. Small dots can be seen between each of the DMC letters, reflecting the newer 2024 DMC branding.
Its worth noting that these changes were made only on the standard Mouliné Spécial threads, with other threads, such as Coloris, Variations, Satin and Light Effects not changing. Mouliné Étoile changed sometime in 2025, so we do expect the whole series to update as time goes on.
It’s amazing to see how DMC thread has kept up with the times, going from Art Nouveau elegance to Midcentury chic to modern. But their vintage throwback labels let us stitchers know they treasure their 120-year history.
But what does the future hold for DMC labels? We suspect with more brands looking to be environmentally friendly, DMC may change back to paper wraps, and drop its gold in the top labels (we’re already seeing this in its non-standard 6-strand threads). However, as long as DMC keeps up the great quality, we’ll be interested in seeing the changes!
Happy stitching!
Lord Libidan
Explore all our cross stitch guides to master everything from basics to advanced techniques.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I make new DMC threads look vintage?
Due to the colorfast nature of DMC threads, there is no easy way to make threads look vintage. However using the Ecovita range of threads which have less vibrant colors, you can make your work look vintage.
What methods are safe for aging embroidery floss?
Using a very light bleach on embroidery threads in a solution with water can age the threads slightly, but this is against the manufacturer’s recommendations.
Does aging thread change how it stitches?
The age of cross stitch thread does not impact how threads stitch, but if the threads have been poorly stored, they can become more brittle than newer threads.
Oh this is VERY useful, thank you! I just poked through the bundle of threads that a friend’s mother passed on to me, and found three skeins of 407 which I am now quite chuffed to date to 1958-1960 (although the lower wrap on the only one that still retains that appears to have been reversed at some point.. easy to happen, I suppose). But…. what about “DMC Spiral” packaging? I’ve only got one of those – from the same person. A long thin cellophany plastic slipcover, with the thread twirled in a spiral inside. 10 metres/11 yards, quadrilingual description on the back. No horse on the logo, and Dollfus etc are listed on the back, so I would have guessed that it predates 1961 merger…. except the DMC – and the entire label except the colour number on the front – is in a sans-serif font, which, from the timeline of the skeins, should put it after 1968…. and now I’m quite befuddled. (It has a price sticker on it, by the way – it cost 1.30 somethings. Probably Dutch gulden? But of course my friend’s mother might have bought it while travelling elsewhere.)
The “spiral” packaging was an experiment, similar to Anchor’s spool experiment. We’re not sure when they were tested. Our best guess is early 80s and only in Europe, but we’re not super sure!
I really enjoy these historical articles – I have a question, I have a 7 yard skein with the very small bottom wrap – however the whole label is definitely blue (not dark blue) – almost the exact color of the wrap on the one fifth from the left in your top image. I’ve seen other 7 yard skeins and the labels definitely are dark – so I’m curious if you have an idea on the history of this one?
Don’t suppose you could send us an image?
Is it possible that what you have listed as 2022-present with the number-framing bars could be an older label instead, or country- or region-specific? I’m on the Idaho-Washington border of the U.S. and have picked cross stitch back up over the last several months; I realize we’re in a pretty rural area and I’ve bought all my recent threads within a ~10-mile diameter, so it could, in theory, be old stock…but across two Walmarts, a Michaels, and a Jo-Ann, every single skein I have purchased or seen (and I’ve seen the vast majority of them in those four stores) while spending hours kitting up patterns and working on building my full DMC collection has been what you list as the 2002 version, and the stores have been restocking as things have sold down—still no bars. The bars actually remind me of an older version of the label: The last time I had previously bought DMC floss was here in the Inland Northwest between 2013-2015, and before that in Florida in the late ’90s—all of which I’m pretty sure had paper labels with number-framing bars—though I can’t access any of those right now to be certain. All of those prior purchases would have been at Jo-Ann or Walmart.
No, the two bars are definitely the new style. We actually visited the factory and saw them being used!
However, we are aware that many of the big box stores buy in MASSIVE bulk and burn through the stock, so getting the new threads for some of the less popular threads could take years…
A few years ago I inherited my grandmother’s stitching supplies, including many skeins of DMC stranded cotton. Some of it undoubtedly came from my great-grandmother’s stash (as she was a much more prolific stitcher than my grandmother). I removed the deteriorating paper labels and wound them onto plastic bobbins, but I wondered at the time how old some of them might be. Well, a good number of them (probably my great-grandmother’s) had the small lower label with gold numbers on black, which I now know was used prior to 1954. From what I recall all of those were 7 yards, so they must have been pre-1950 skeins. (And thus most likely older than my mother, born in 1948!) When I saw them labeled “7 yrd” I assumed they had been made specifically for the US market, but I guess not. How bizarre that they weren’t measuring them in meters even when sold in Europe! There were several from the 1950s (a mix of 1954 and 1958 designs, I think) and quite a few with the 1970s design. Plus a handful of recent ones (2002 design) that I’d probably bought for my grandma during the years I lived with her (2006-2020).
I had no idea how old some of those were. I’d assumed that they were all from the ’60s or ’70s. (For one thing I hadn’t realized that the barcodes went back to 1973; growing up in the 1980s I saw lots of skeins without barcodes but I suppose those were ones my mother/grandmother/great-grandmother had kept around or some of the shops had old stock they were still selling through.)
Now that I know how old some of them were, I certainly don’t mind that some of them don’t really match modern skeins with the same color number. (Yes, I know some of the colors have also changed due to dye reformulations.)
What a fun post! Thanks as always for the research you do. I’ve inherited floss from my mother and grandmother and it always was fun to see how the labels were different. Having this info makes it much more meaningful and special – kind of like their old sewing notion labels. I’ll definitely be watching for some of these at the thrift stores now!