Everyone wants a full set of DMC threads, or maybe you want loads of threads for your next epic cross stitch project or maybe you just want a few and don’t want to shell out insane amounts. Well you’re in luck, as we look at the best places to get great deals on embroidery threads.

Cones

Without a doubt, the first thing I would suggest would be DMC cones. These are much easier to find in the USA (only the American DMC factory sells them), but in short, they are big old cones of thread. They come in 35 different colors, but if we’re honest, the only two colors worth thinking about are black and white. The reason they rock however is the size. You can get them in 100g (if you can find them) or 500g cones, which equates to 261 skeins of thread. The real kicker is that you can pick one of these up for $20 sometimes, that’s less than 1 cent a skein. Sure, the price is mostly around the $30 to $70 dollar mark (they’re $70 dollars on the US DMC website, but cheaper elsewhere) however that’s still a deal you can’t beat anywhere else. And you never have to worry about dye lots again. We’ve gone into more detail about DMC thread cones and how to use them in another post, so check that out before purchasing!

AliExpress/Ebay

But what about all the other 498 colors of thread? Well, you could visit online stores like AliExpress. We’re of the opinion that AliExpress is bad for cross stitch but if you’re super careful you can find some cheaper DMC threads. They tend to be super old stock and are found when a store goes out of business, but there are some good deals to be found (but make sure you realize may deals are too good to be true). However, we suggest something slightly different:

Cheaper Alternatives

We’ve looked into if cheap embroidery threads are worth it before, and honestly, they are a great alternative to DMC. They come in the same colors, they aren’t as bad as some people say they are, and they’re are super cheap. Sure, getting them from China can be like pulling teeth sometimes, but if you’re just starting out in cross stitch I would seriously suggest looking into getting CXC threads instead of DMC. You can get a full set for less than $50, and no one will be able to tell the difference.

Second Hand

But if you really want DMC, then you’ve probably considered buying second-hand cross stitch threads. This can be an amazing way of getting threads on the cheap, but there are issues:
– Sunlight damage
– Mix of brands
– Unlabeled threads
So if you do intend to get your hands on second-hand threads, just be careful to check their quality; there’s nothing worse than buying loads of threads and having to throw most of them out as they are unusable.

Store Sales

And so finally, we hit the regular ways to buy threads; the big retailers. These can be online, or in-store, but just because they’re a big store, doesn’t mean they can’t offer you a great deal. In fact, I got my full set of DMC threads from a big online store when they were on sale, and I combined a sweet discount code.
When going online, they tend to have sales once a year, around the new year, and if you can combine with discount codes you can get massive discounts on bulk orders. However, I would save these deals for times when you’re buying in big numbers of threads.
Brick and mortar stores are more likely to have sales through the year, and in America you can combine coupons for double the effect, meaning you can get smaller orders. However there is one big thing to be aware of, and that’s how the store has stored their threads. Sometimes you can get a lot of light damaged threads in big stores, so make sure the colors are OK and save the receipt; if the color is wrong, go back and exchange it!