Thread Floss Color Palette for Embroidering | Anya & Yor!

How Many Thread Colors is Enough?

Hello, hello~~
As most of you have seen, I've hosted a poll on my Instagram letting everyone choose a reference image they'd like to see the embroidery process on! 
So far I left a few video reels on behind-the-scenes, tips on thread filling also tips to needle painting and how to create a gradient color palette for thread painting.

Before we get on with the details, shout out to Aimee for helping a gal out with some SpyxFamily reference and such a cute theme too for May! ♡
Unfortunately, I couldn't finish before Mother's Day, but I'm happy with the turn out thus far and I can't wait to continue sharing the process!

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I must say that those who've asked me this question, of how I go about choosing colors, really left me in a pickle because you all have impeccable work with your long and short stitches, but it sounded like the colors is what makes a piece stressful. 

I'm not here to say "choose these colors" or "do this that way" absolutely not!
I'm in no way professional about my thread color selection, even today I still have a complicated time color choosing and it's left me to ditch so many pieces because of it.

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Most cases where we see "perfect" thread blending we would think it carries tons of thread colors to look as real as it does, when in reality it truly depends on the colors of thread you're using.

To be honest, take a stitch break and study the "hues, tints, and tones", it helps to notice how to identify thread colors and it's value.

If this confuses you, I have a full blog on this segment specifically and answers to, if less thread = more?

Color Palette

I've figured picking the darkest thread color you see and the lightest thread color from your reference image will guide you to find the middle colors to visualize how the threads go from light to dark. 

This trick will improve in time to lead you to create your very own thread blending palette! Creating your thread palette with primary colors at first, is just a step to blending your threads.

Needle Painted Features

I also would like to say before going in onto the thread colors chosen for Anya and Yor, that some areas in this particular reference image not everything needed to have "smooth" blending and this time I wasn't so nervous about experimenting!

Anya - Hair and Eyes

It's very clear we can see Anya's hair is needle painted, her tips are super light and her bun is very dark in thread color. Anya's eyes are also needle painted, but it's very hard to tell since her eyes are no bigger than 2.5 cm, which takes us back to when I mentioned that not every area or space needs to be thread painted. 

This is where less is more.

Would you believe me when I say I used 11 colors to thread fill Anya's eyes? While only using 7 for her hair! Because it's true and it doesn't look like her eyes are blended "flawlessly" because it's so small that there is not enough space to "needle paint with long and short stitches".

Her hair palette is also very simple but yet softly gradient (transitioning from one color to another). if you caught my reel on this color palette then it'll make the visual part of this much easier to understand why I went with this technique to needle paint Anya's hair. (for short, more space to blend!)

Not only did I notice her hair colors change from light to dark but experimented with stitching her eyes to appear needle painted, I wanted to see if "space" makes a difference vs the amount of thread colors used.

The answer to, How many thread colors is enough.. well... to quote the iconic movie we all love,

"the limit does not exist!"

It truly depends on the reference image, your thread color palette, the area, the effect and effort it'll create. 

When embroidering Anya's eyes, I went out of my element and added yellow thread to create a dramatic look and play with the complementary colors that go well with green, this was only to see what it'll achieve on my end. I must admit, her eyes were dull until I stitched that yellow thread, it really made them P O P!!

Thinking you need an endless amount of thread colors to achieve a needle painted embroidery is a "fixed mindset" because this isn't always true, play with your colors, mix them up a little, add a color not in your reference image and get crafty, it's okay to experiment. If you target the belief that YOU can make it work, that's the "growth mindset"!

Would anyone be interested in Yor's hair tutorial? Leave a "♥" in the comment section!

Reference Image!