Whoop! I’m celebrating 100,000 skeins sold! I hit this amazing number in February 2024, and getting here was unimaginable when I started selling floss in 2013. My very first floss sale was in July of 2013 and it was one skein each of DMC 4000, 4066, 4068, and 4129.
I had originally envisioned Ancora Crafts selling only patterns and kits. Early on, however, I heard about DMC releasing the 24 “newer” variated colors and I was fascinated by them. I’ve said this in other blog posts, and I’ll post it again here: “Variegated flosses are beautiful and by their very nature, they make every piece that uses them unique. No two people will ever use the exact same length of a floss in the same way, thus every project will have a different result! This makes creating with them an exercise in curiosity and a fun adventure.”
Back in 2013, the 24 “newer” colors were difficult to find in brick-and-mortar shops, so I decided to take the chance to list them in my Etsy shop. Very, VERY gradually (in all of 2013 I sold a total of 29 skeins), the 24 colors started to sell! By the end of 2013 I had listed the remainder of the DMC variegated threads that existed to that point.
In 2015 I listed the 40 Anchor Variegated threads, the 16 Ombre Shades and the (now discontinued) 24 Multicolors. Then in 2016, DMC released their 24 Coloris flosses that remain popular to this day!
I discovered ThreadworX threads in 2017, mainly because of their gorgeous rainbow floss, Bradley’s Balloons. I think my jaw dropped the first time I saw it. This colorway is my all-time bestseller, with nearly 4900 skeins sold.
As of the end of 2023, I now sell all colors of ThreadworX floss individually and in collections of my own creation.
My next bestseller is DMC’s Glow in the Dark floss with roughly 3800 skeins sold. I listed this fun floss in 2014 shortly after I discovered it for myself!
My next best seller is, believe it or not, DMC’s solid black with roughly 3000 skeins sold. In 2015 I decided to sell a handful of excess solid colors I had in hand, and DMC 310 sold well enough that I have kept it in stock ever since.
My most popular variegated flosses include the grays of DMC 53 (roughly 1600 sold) and dark reds of DMC 115 (roughly 1400 sold). Some of this can be attributed to a customer who uses these colors in her large scale textile art pieces.
Aside from that special circumstance, DMC 4520 (1100 sold) is an obvious choice with its Christmas colors,
DMC 4507 (850 sold) is lovely with it’s deep bright colors,
DMC 4000 (photo at top, 700 sold) has stayed popular with it’s resemblance to coffee,
and DMC 4245 (700 sold) is a personal favorite with it’s rich blend of dark blues and purples.
For ThreadworX colors, aside from the rainbow beauty of Bradley’s Balloons, there’s the earth tones of 1039 Autumn Leaves (600 sold),
the pastel rainbow in 10592 Wildflowers (600 sold),
and the deep sea blues in 11382 Blue Swirl (600 sold).
Do you have any favorite threads in the Ancora Crafts Etsy shop?