Found a Knot in Your Embroidery Floss? Don’t Panic
While I was winding floss onto bobbins recently, I spotted something a little unexpected — a small knot right in the middle of the floss.
- Not a snag.
- Not damage.
- An actual, intentional knot.
If you've ever found one of these and thought "Uh oh… what is wrong with my floss?", let me put your mind at ease straight away:
Yes — this is normal.
It's unusual, but it does happen from time to time, and it's not a mistake or a manufacturing error.
Embroidery floss isn't made in one infinite length. During production, lengths of floss are joined together to create every skein, and occasionally that join makes its way into the final product as a small knot. Most of the time you'll never see it — but every now and then, you might get one.
It can be frustrating to come across (especially mid-project), but it doesn't mean there's anything wrong with your floss, and it won't affect the quality of your stitches.
When you find one, you can simply:
- Cut it out and treat it like the end of a thread, or
- Use the knot itself as an "end" and start a new length from there
Trying to pull a knot like this through your fabric can damage the fibres, and because the strands are already joined, it also won't behave nicely if you're splitting the floss into fewer strands. Treating it as a natural stopping point is kind-of the only option.
👈 👆 Here's what one looks like — small, but very obvious once you come across it. Easy to mistake for a problem if you've never seen one before!
So if you ever find a knot like this in your floss, take a breath and carry on. Nothing's broken, your floss is fine, you haven't done anything wrong, and your project isn't doomed 😄 I promise!
Just one of those quietly normal things you tend to learn along the way. 🧵🧡
