The other day, we were discussing my blue alien hands that were enrobed in some strange material while I embroidered. Due to the usual wear and tear on the hands from typical household work – not to mention some non-typical work – my hands were having a rough time of it with silk thread.
I received a regular heap o’feedback on the site and via e-mail, with all kinds of suggestions for remedies. Thank you so much for your input and ideas, everyone! Wow – lots of solutions for rough handed stitching! Thank you, thank you. I’ll definitely test some of them.
On the market today, there are several lotions that are made for stitchers. I thought I’d give you my take on two of them, and tell you why I prefer one above the other.
This is called “Stitchers Lotion”. It’s an unscented, non-greasy hand treatment that you’re supposed to be able to use right before you stitch without any adverse effects on your threads or fabric. It’s available at many local needlework shops – if you have a cross stitch shop or a needlepoint shop or a fine needlework shop in your area, chances are, they carry this.
This well-worn and more or less empty tube of hand cream is made specifically for Au Ver a Soie, the French silk thread company that makes the best range of silk threads for hand embroidery available today. The cream is meant to be used by stitchers working with silk, and in fact, it is so thread-safe, that the manufacturer recommends it for conditioning the thread as well, to tame it up a bit if necessary. So not only can you rub the stuff on your hands right before you stitch (a little goes a long way – and don’t expect a perfumey, flowery smell – it has a very unscented, oatmeal-like smell), but you can also run your threads through it.
Stitchers Lotion (the first photo, above) runs about $4 or $5 for the tube. It’s very affordable.
Au Ver a Soie hand cream runs about $15 for the tube. It’s a bit more expensive. Hence, the picture of the empty tube – I don’t buy the stuff too often!
But this is the thing: if I need to put a lotion on my hands as I stitch because of a serious snagging problem (especially when under pressure to get something finished), I am much more confident about putting Au Ver a Soie’s lotion on my hands, because it all boils down to the thread. Au Ver a Soie knows silk. If this is the cream they sell to use with their silk, I feel perfectly confident that it cannot be harmful at all for the thread, now or in the long-run. Otherwise, they wouldn’t sell it.
Stitchers Lotion is not specific for any type of stitching or thread, so that leaves me wondering.
But then, there is that whole expense question.
How do I get around it? I’ve got a tube of the AVS cream on my Christmas list. I figure if I’m a good girl this year, Santa will drop some in my stocking.
(Did you hear that, Santa?!)
Tomorrow, I’m going to review a gorgeous (gorgeous) book. See you then!
