Woven Nymphs

[Rabmax]

Hello all been getting into woven nymphs lately.I have been using cotton embroidery thread also polyester embroidery thread.The results so far is that i get a neater more pronounced segmentation using the polyester.The polyester is great but it's harder to buy in the colours i want & more expensive too.I am thinking about giving Rayon embroidery thread a try as you can buy it  in loads of colour.It seems very cheap too that's appealing to me as well.Anyone used Rayon for woven flies that can comment on if it's good for weaving. Cheers all

[Traditionalist]

It's OK but it tends to fray badly and is weaker than most other threads which makes it a poor choice for weaving or indeed anything that requires manipulation.

Polyester thread is available in a massive range of types and colours including fluorescents etc. ;

http://www.profabrics.co.uk/snap_product_search.php?search=true&category=Accessories%3E%3EThread

http://www.secretsof.com/content/3738

http://www.madeira.co.uk/threads/polyester-polyneon/

http://www.madeira.co.uk/threads/shadecards-pantone-conversion/

https://www.guetermann.com/shop/en/view/content/Consumer-Downloads?node=comp_0000000R3N

https://www.guetermann.com/medias/sys_master/8799340101662/GM_FARBENKARTE_Allesn%C3%A4her.pdf

A sample image from that PDF

[Rabmax]

Hello mike how would you know what type to buy.The guetermann spools i am guessing would be tiny & more suited to sewing.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_nkw=Polyester+Embroidery&_sacat=0&_odkw=Polyester&_osacat=0&_from=R40
Looking through ebay at the polyesters it seems most are for machine embroidery.Not sure if machine embroidery thread would be thick 'thin.If it would be highly spun & not suitable for splitting up into the diameters i would want.Cheers

[Traditionalist]

Hello mike how would you know what type to buy.The guetermann spools i am guessing would be tiny & more suited to sewing.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_nkw=Polyester+Embroidery&_sacat=0&_odkw=Polyester&_osacat=0&_from=R40
Looking through ebay at the polyesters it seems most are for machine embroidery.Not sure if machine embroidery thread would be thick 'thin.If it would be highly spun & not suitable for splitting up into the diameters i would want.Cheers

It's a big problem buying on line sight unseen as you never know what you are going to get even when they actually give measurements etc.  However, as to quantity, you can get the Gutermann stuff in various lengths and sizes this is a 600 m reel:

http://www.profabrics.co.uk/shop/show_product_info.php?id=RP60-52

( From the first link in my last post)

that's a LOT of thread!  In Practice the smaller 100m spools are sufficient for most things.

For weaving, some people prefer embroidery hanks ( also called "skeins") like this;

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/sis.html?_itemId=290598155973&_nkw=Large%20Lot%20DMC%20Embroidery%20Cotton%20Floss%20300%20Hanks

You have to look around in order to find exactly what you want and visits to a few sewing shops are well worthwhile.

I got a big sack full of such stuff at a local fleamarket for next to nothing.

[Rabmax]

It's the polyester hanks that i have been using so far mike.The Point North stuff looks like it has some nice colours.If it comes like a thread i guess wrapping it from one door handle to another about a dozen times would give me my weaving floss.Putting your floss onto bobbing & weaving with 2 bobbin holders makes things far easier.Cheers again

[Robbie]

I use various materials for woven flies, but really like the colour and effect of ryon floss. When I first started weaving I found the Ryon difficult to use, as Mike said, as it tended to fray. I tried various embroidery threads, Hobby Craft in Aberdeen have a huge range, but found that the flies tended to be quite bulky.

Also bought some harder wearing floss from a place in Glasgow but can't remember the name just now, will have a raked about and get back to you.

After practising with more robust materials for a while I now find I can get reasonable results weaving with   Danviles ryon and uni flosses.

[Robbie]

The more robust floss I mentioned above was Vytafloss (available from Anglers Rendezvous in Glasgow). It has a matt finish but is quite easy to weave with, not sure if it is still available.