Choosing The Right Beading Threads and Cords - DandyLine and SoNo

This time for 'Flip Your Freads For February', we're going to look at two of our slightly less well known beading threads - DandyLine and SoNo.

Although they've both been around for some time now, they're not always high on people's favourite choice of threads. Both have their own fantastic points so let's share them with you! We'll take a look at DandyLine first.

DandyLine is made in the USA by Beadalon, and is a braided thread made from an advanced synthetic material called Spectra. As you can see in the image above, the threads are braided around a core, which creates a strong and flexible base. However this can lead to fraying at the ends if overworked, but this can be easily fixed with a quick snip and a touch with a thread zapper.

It is extremely soft, is waterproof and UV resistant, so perfect for summer jewellery or jewellery that is meant to be worn a lot!

Like other braided threads, it has near zero stretch and is abrasion resistant. This means it's good to use for all off-loom beading stitches and loom work, however be mindful that with zero stretch, your piece may need to be beaded with a looser tension to ensure it's not put under pressure. Flat beadwork such as Peyote, Brick Stitch, Loomwork and Right Angle Weave may fair better than Spiral or Cellini stitch over time.

Similar to FireLine and WildFire, we'd recommend using specialist or dedicated scissors when cutting to avoid blunting or damaging the blades over time.

It is also recommended you use a collapsible eye needle with larger diameters of thread, and a hard beading needle for smaller diameters.

Although it's not thermally bonded, DandyLine comes very close to the strength and workability of both FireLine and WildFire. If you find these two threads a bit stiff, give DandyLine a try instead.

Let's move onto SoNo now and see what it has to offer us beaders.

SoNo thread was specially designed for seed beads by Japanese beading master, Sonoku Nozue. We've seen it compared to Nymo, Silamide, Miyuki and KO thread before now, due to its soft, relaxed feel and smooth drape. Also similar to these threads, it has a slight elasticity to it, so we'd suggest giving it a pre-stretch before beading with it. 

SoNo knots very tightly with minimal tangling, and as it is difficult to pierce with a needle, you won't split or fray your work. And speaking of needles, this thread works well with a size 12 or bigger needle.

SoNo is a smooth, singly ply 100% nylon thread, which make it strong and easy to thread - there's no need to double up the thread when stitching. It doesn't need conditioning, but if you prefer to do this then that's fine too. 

Patterns and projects with movement and flex lend themselves very well to SoNo, as it has that 'bounce' in it. It is especially good for fringes, tassels and drops, where you want the beads to have natural movement and sway.

DandyLine and SoNo are very different from each other, however both have their place in the beading world and we'd urge you give them a go in place of your usual beading threads - we think you'd be pleasantly surprised!