Here’s my review of the 35 new DMC floss colors released in 2017. They are very welcome additions to the DMC palette, especially in expanding their range of purples, greens, yellows, browns, and grays.
The last new solids arrived in 2013, when DMC released 16 new floss colors that, to this day, are only available in a pack (read my review here). I have a suspicion that those 16 (numbers 3880-3895) may have been an experiment by DMC that influenced the development of these 35 colors. As you’ll read below, some of the 35 new colors are similar to the 2013 releases. However, these new 35 colors are available to purchase individually. This is wonderful!
While releasing these new flosses, DMC did some rearrangement of their color card. There were lots of shifts in their pinks, grays, browns, and purples, but there was nothing too extreme and all of the changes made sense. One of the biggest changes was that colors 225-224-152-223-3722-3721-221 moved to the brown family instead of their old home in pinks. The other biggest change was that colors 3823-3855-(new 19)-3854-3853-3827-977-976-3826-975 are now considered more yellow than brown.
Here’s my take on these new colors, in order of where they fall on the new color card:
DMC 23 is called Apple Blossom, and it’s a very light icy pink that comes before the 3689 Mauve color family.
It’s a truly new color, as you see it here next to it’s closest matches, DMC 819, 818, and 3713.
DMC wisely added DMC 33, DMC 34, and DMC 35, called Fuchsia, Dark Fuchsia, and Very Dark Fuchsia. These drop-dead-gorgeous reddish purples are probably my favorites of the 35 new colors.
As you can see here, 34 and 35 are very close to DMC 3886 which is only available in the pack of 16.
DMC 24 (White Lavender), DMC 25 (Ultra Light Lavender), and DMC 26 (Pale Lavender) are wonderful new very light purples. In the new color card, these three are a mini-group that comes before DMC 211. However, it looks to me as if they are different types of purples. I would suggest an alternate arrangement:
DMC 25 before DMC 211,
the more pinkish DMC 24 before DMC 153,
and the more bluish DMC 26 before DMC 340.
DMC 27, DMC 28, and DMC 29 are lovely, muted new shades of purple. Their names are White Violet, Medium Light Eggplant, and Eggplant. Despite the veggie connotation of its name, DMC 29 reminds me of the dark purple color red wine grapes become near their harvest time.
DMC 27 can also be used as a lighter shade before DMC 3743.
DMC 30, DMC 31, and DMC 32 are new shades of bluesy-purple fruitfully named Medium Light Blueberry, Blueberry, and Dark Blueberry. These beautiful new DMC floss colors nicely augment their range of purples and blues.
DMC 30 is quite similar to DMC 340 and DMC 155 although they are still faintly distinct colors.
In the new color card, DMC 13, called Medium Light Nile Green, comes after DMC 955 and before DMC 954. However, I think it possible that it should come just before 955.
Here, next to it’s closest matches of DMC 369, DMC 164, and DMC 955, you can see it is a truly new shade of minty green.
DMC 14 (Pale Apple Green), DMC 15 (Apple Green), and DMC 16 (Light Chartreuse) are bright and fun additions to the existing 704-699 family of greens.
DMC 15 and 16 would also look great with the Parrot Green family of 3894-904. Note how DMC 16 is somewhat close to 3894, which is one of the colors only available in the pack of 16.
DMC created a new color family with DMC 10, DMC 11, and DMC 12, Very Light Tender Green, Light Tender Green, and Tender Green. These three fall before the Moss Green family of 165-580.
DMC 10 is a versatile color. It could be used before DMC 772 or the new DMC 15. It could also come before 472…
and along with 11 and 12 before 3894 and the Parrot Green family.
DMC 17 and DMC 18 are called Light Yellow Plum and Yellow Plum, and they are ever-so-slightly greenish gold-brown. They are their own color family, but they do fall before and could easily be used with the DMC 834-829 Golden Olive color family.
The bright and pretty DMC 19, Medium Light Autumn Gold, is a welcome add to the 3823-3853 color family.
19 is definitely a new color for DMC as you can see it next to its closest matches, DMC 743 and DMC 3825.
Three more of the new DMC floss colors, DMC 20, DMC 21, and DMC 22 (named Shrimp, Light Alizarin, and Alizarin), are slightly brighter versions of the colors in the 948-3777 color family.
DMC 20 is actually quite close to DMC 967, DMC 3824, and DMC 353, with DMC 3779 in range.
DMC 21 is close to 356, 3712, and 3778, and as shown here you can see it is a distinct color. 21 is also close to DMC 3883, a color only available in the pack of 16.
Here is DMC 22 near it’s closest matches of DMC 3777, DMC 355, and DMC 347. Like 21 above, it is also a new and distinct color.
DMC 09 is called Very Dark Cocoa, and it’s a great new color add to the 3861-779 Cocoa color family.
09 is a very dark brown with a hint of purple, and its closest companions, which aren’t close at all, are DMC 844, DMC 3031, and DMC 838.
DMC 05, DMC 06, DMC 07, and DMC 08 make up the new Driftwood color family, and they have a pretty close resemblance to the 453-09 color family (shown above). In person, 07 and 08 seem to be a slight touch more drab than the 453-09 group.
05 and 06 are very much like 453 with the hint of purple in their tones.
07 is close to DMC 841 and nearly identical to DMC 3895, one of the colors only available in the pack of 16.
The last new additions are DMC 01 White Tin, DMC 02 Tin, DMC 03 Medium Tin, and DMC 04 Dark Tin. Here they are shown next to their closest matches, DMC 762, DMC 415, DMC 318, and DMC 414. The only difference I can see is that new 01-04 Tin family is just slightly less bluish than the 762-414 group. Also note that 04 is quite close to DMC 3884 from the pack of 16.
One other note I have about these new DMC floss colors is about their numbering. As some of you may know, I sell DMC variegated floss (among other brands) on Etsy. The 16 oldest DMC variegated flosses are numbered 48-125. The 16 solids released in 2013 were numbered 3880-3895. Why on Earth DMC decided to number these new 2017 solids 01-35 is just a mystery to me. Do they plan on re-numbering the 16 oldest variegated flosses again someday? I don’t get it! C’est la vie…
I have a couple footnotes on this post (these are same footnotes as on my other posts that discuss colors). First, in order to get the full effect of the differences and similarities of the flosses, you really need to see them for yourself in different types of lighting. I’ve tried my best to capture the subtleties of the color differences, but cameras can’t always do the same job as the human eye.
Second, you have to account for some differences between the color of skeins. DMC has incredible quality control and they produce amazingly consistent colors. However, I may have skeins that are slightly different in color than DMC’s laboratory conditions or the lighting in your house or workplace. So when you look at 30 and think “That’s not even close to 340 or 155! Is she on drugs or something?” The answer is “well, maybe a glass of wine,” and please remember that colors will look different in various locations and lighting.
All that being said, what do you think of the new DMC floss colors? Have you been able to see them in person? Has my review above helped you? Let me know in the comments!