Eco Vita 360 is a versatile thread that provides crafters with a sustainable choice across a wide range of techniques including embroidery, cross stitch, punch needle, weaving and mending. We’ve included a few hints and tips below to help you get the most from this beautiful thread.
How to Use Eco Vita 360 Thread
Hints and Tips for Using Eco Vita Naturally Dyed Organic Wool Thread
What is Eco Vita 360?
Eco Vita 360 is a Naturally Dyed Organic Wool Thread wool thread that’s available in 60 shades, making it the world's largest range of naturally dyed threads.
How Much Thread Should I Stitch With?
Eco Vita 360 is a durable wool thread but, as with any thread, if you stitch with a piece that is too long it can become worn, frayed or dirty from being handled too much and passed through the fabric too many times. As a general rule, we recommend using pieces of thread no longer than 12 inches.
Don’t Divide the Thread
Eco Vita 360 is designed to be used as it is straight from the skein. If you have done a lot of embroidery you might be used to using stranded embroidery thread like Mouliné Spécial which can be separated. You might use a single strand for fine details or all six strands to achieve a lot of texture. Eco Vita 360 thread is never divided in this way. It is about the same thickness as 3 strands of Mouliné Spécial and can be doubled to build a lot of texture.
Use it to Build Texture in Embroidery
Eco Vita 360’s fluffy texture makes it brilliant for building texture in embroidery. Try it with the following stitches to add a three-dimensional quality to your work: satin stitch, french knots, fishbone stitch, chain stitch, stem stitch, split stitch, spider stitch and granitos stitch.
What to stitch on
For embroidery projects, you can stitch on almost any base fabric including linen, cotton and hemp. We created Eco Vita Hemp as the ideal base fabric to use with Eco Vita Thread. As part of the Eco Vita Collection, this fabric aims to give stitchers a more eco-conscious choice without having to compromise on quality. Hemp is a crop that uses less resources, including water and land, to produce than cotton. It’s also biodegradable. For cross stitch, we recommend 14 count/5.5pts Aida or 28 count/11 threads per cm linen.
What size needle?
The needle you choose for any needlecraft will depend on the fabric you use as well as the thread. As a guide, we recommend using a size 5 embroidery needle and for cross stitch a size 24 cross stitch needle. For punch needle, we recommend a medium 1.6mm diameter needle.
Mending
If you are using Eco Vita 360 to create visible mends or embellishments on clothing, it’s important to consider the combination of fabric and thread you are using and how the finished item will be used. If it is an item you will wash it is especially important to take care of washing instructions for both the fabric and the thread to avoid shrinkage and puckering. Eco Vita can be washed at 30 degrees so it is ideal for mending and embellishing cherished woollen textiles that will have similar washing and care needs. If an item is purely decorative or only needs to be washed occasionally at the same 30-degree temperature then it is okay to stitch on almost any fabric.