As a stitcher who has used, almost exclusively, DMC floss for years now, i’ve been excited to recently add some other floss and thread brands into my stitching arsenal. If you’ve been following along on Instagram, you already know how much I love the Sue Spargo Eleganza perle cotton…if you haven’t tried that yet, I definitely recommend it.  It comes in a saturated color palette and adds extra shine and texture to your stitching.

Here you can see pictured from left to right: Cosmo, DMC and Eleganza.

Cosmo floss is not as easy to find in the US.  In fact, there are not any stores local to me that sell it. It would be nice to actually see the colors in person before deciding what to buy, but, alas…. Fortunately, there are online shops that carry Cosmo floss.  DMC floss is stocked at every craft store, from Joann Fabrics, to Michaels, A.C. Moore and Hobby Lobby.

Pricing is a factor that you may want to consider also.  DMC Floss costs $0.40-0.50 a skein.  Cosmo is around $1.30-1.60 a skein.  And Eleganza is about $5 for a (70-yard) spool.  With DMC and Cosmo, you are able to separate the 6-strands into however many you like to stitch with.  Eleganza Perle cotton does not separate into strands; it is about the thickness of three stands of the other varieties of floss.

As far as stitching difference, I would say the most noticeable difference is the feel of the threads.  Cosmo has a silkier feel when compared with DMC.  It is also slightly easier to separate the strands and there are fewer tangles.  When stitching with all 6 strands, Cosmo provides a slightly thicker line of stitching than DMC.  Eleganza rarely tangles and also has a silky feel.  DMC comes in more colors and is easier to find, but Cosmo and Eleganza are well worth shopping online to find.

If I had to rate them in which order I would choose a thread to stitch with, I would start with Eleganza first, Cosmo second and DMC third.  All are excellent threads, though, and I certainly won’t be giving up DMC when I need a quick floss fix!

Let me know what other differences you’ve noticed between these threads or if you have another favorite that I didn’t mention here!