12 DMC Thread Colour Palettes For Cross Stitch And Embroidery | S2 E9

In this episode, I am talking all about the DMC thread colour palettes I have put together and sharing the actual thread numbers that I use.

Have you ever looked at a photo on Instagram of beautiful DMC threads and wondered what the colours were? And you sometimes feel a little funny about asking what they are? I am guilty of this; both putting the photo on with no numbers showing, and wondering about other people’s palettes. Why do we hide the numbers?

I am breaking that trend today and sharing my most used palettes and sharing where you can find some colour palette inspiration. I am just sharing DMC colours because they are the ones I use, however, click here to find the Anchor alternative.

12 DMC Thread Colour Palettes:

1. Rainbow Palette

Let’s dive in with a traditional Rainbow palette! This palette can be used for so many designs. The colours are:

• Red – 666
• Orange – 740
• Yellow – 973
• Green – 907
• Blue – 3845
• Indigo – 336
• Violet – 333

The Rainbow was the very first pattern I designed myself and started this whole business, so it’s one close to my heart. And who doesn’t love a rainbow?

2. Hannah Hand Makes Logo Palette

A more recent palette I discovered is my logo one. This is just 3 colours but this is one of my favourite palettes. It has a slight retro vibe and I use it in my Pink Dino Cross Stitch Kit.

• Pink – 3706
• Mint – 964
• Yellow – 744

Now I will go through a timeline of palettes that should see you through a whole year of stitching!

3. Autumn Palette

This palette is perfect for some cosy Autumn stitching. There are quite a few colours in this one, and the inspiration from this palette came from my Less House, More Home pattern and my Llama kit.

• Dark pink – 221
• Medium pink – 223
• Light pink – 224
• Dark green – 367
• Light green – 368
• Dark mustard – 3852
• Light mustard – 3821
• Dark purple – 3042
• Light purple – 3041
• Grey – 317
• Black – 310
• Cream – 739

4. Halloween Palette

This palette comes right from my Halloween kits and Cauldron pattern. As you will see, there are some cross overs between some palettes.

• Purple – 333
• Orange – 740
• Light orange – 742
• Green – 702
• Metallic Gold – E3821
• Cotton gold – 3046
• Black – 310
• White – White
• Neon green – E990

5. Traditional Christmas Palette

This palette is bright and cheerful and will match any traditional, colourful Christmas decor. This palette came from my Christmas Elf and Deck The Halls kits and of course, the Christmas SAL. 

• Red – 666
• Lighter red – 350
• Green – 702
• Lighter green – 703
• White – White
• Black – 310
• Metallic Gold – E3821
• Cotton gold – 3046
• Mustard/yellow – 3821
• Brown – 801
• Lighter brown – 301
• Blue – 317
• Pink – 601
• Purple – 333

There are a lot of colours in this palette and some may not seem very “Christmassy”, but the reds and greens will take up most of the design and the other colours are extras. For example, the blue, pink and purple are the fairy lights on the tree.

6. Winter Wonderland Palette

This palette comes straight from my 2018 Christmas SAL design (which can now be purchased as a cross stitch kit) and is perfect if you have cool, modern Christmas decorations or want to make a winter design that isn’t for Christmas.

• Pink  – 224
• Green – 522
• Rose gold – 758
• Metallic silver – E168
• Cotton silver – 168
• Light brown – 301
• Tan – 437
• Purple – 3042
• Light purple – 3743

7. Cosy Christmas Palette

Another from the Christmas SAL, this is a deep and rich palette to cosy up your Christmas stitching.

• Burgundy – 814
• Dark purple – 3834
• Dark yellow – 3852
• Brown – 801
• Dark green – 3051
• Navy blue – 336
• Grey – 317
• Gold – E3821
• Cotton gold – 3046
• Black – 310
• White – White

8. Valentine’s Day Palette

I totally forgot about Valentine’s day for this episode but my favourite reds and pinks are:

• 666
• 321
• 350
• 601
• 3689
• 3076
• 956

You could also stitch some stars on the design, like my star sign kits, and use E168. I have a tutorial for stitching backstitch stars on aida if you want to see how it’s done!

9. Easter/Spring Time Palette

This palette is from my Easter cross stitch kits but can be used for any springtime designs.

• Pink – 224
• Green – 368
• Purple – 3743
• Blue – 837
• Yellow – 3078

10. British Summer Palette

This palette I used in my 2018 Summer SAL and are not colours I would usually put together, but I loved the finished piece.

• Red – 350
• Green – 703
• Yellow – 744
• Dark yellow – 3821
• Black – 310
• Gold – E3821
• Cotton gold – 3046
• Purple – 333
• Navy blue – 317
• White – White

11. Tropical Palette

I have used this palette in many of my summer kits and patterns such as my Topical Vibes kit and my Sunshine and Cocktails pattern. I love the bright and fun colours in this one; they instantly make me think of sunshine.

• Pink – 601
• Light pink – 3689
• Green – 702
• Light green – 907
• Orange – 740
• Yellow – 973
• Blue – 3845
• Purple – 333
• Neon green – E990

This is quite similar to the rainbow palette, but with a bit of pink thrown in there too. You could even add in a bit of neon green like I do in my Flamingo Cross Stitch Kit.

12. A Pastel Palette

This palette is not one of my own, but it came from Cloud Craft and inspired my first ever cross stitch kit – my Unicorn one!

• Pink 3689
• Blue – 827
• Green – 996
• Yellow – 3078 
• Purple – 210

Cloud Craft groups her threads into palettes and has matching felt too! And over on her Instagram, she shares many DMC palettes and doesn’t hide the numbers – yay!

Hello! Hooray! Blog

Clare, over at Hello Hooray Blog has curated 4 craft colour palettes, using everyday objects:

• #1 A palette inspired by a stripy tray from IKEA
• #2 A palette inspired by pastel highlighters 
• #3 A palette inspired by Mini Eggs (the chocolates!)
• #4 A palette inspired by the Instagram logo

To see what thread Clare used for each palette, just head over to her blog. She includes both the DMC and Anchor numbers.

Some of her threads overlap with mine, particularly the Mini Eggs one with my Easter one, but that is because we collaborated at Easter and each wrote a guest post for each other. You can find a free cross stitch pattern on the post I wrote for Clare, and 2 embroidery patterns on the post Clare wrote for me.

Extra colours

Here are a few more single colours that I didn’t mention in the palettes but can be added in as extras or swapped for similar ones. And DMC has now created new glitter threads which I love! You can read more about them here.

• “Christmas red” – 304
• Copper – 919
• Metallic Rosewood – E3685
• Teal green – 3812
• Glitter dark pink – C600
• Glitter light pink – C603
• Glitter burgendy – C814
• Glitter grey/silver – C415
• Glitter gold – C738

Pattern of the Month

With Halloween just around the corner, I am recommending my new Halloween Cat Cross Stitch Kit and pattern, which you can download on Etsy. 

It uses 6 DMC colours (which are included in the kit) and if stitched on 16 count aida, it fits perfectly in a 4-inch hoop for framing. The pattern is £1.50 (ex. VAT) and £14.99 for the full kit.

You can also get him in a Halloween set, which includes another 7-inch hoop kit and a bonus pattern.

Extra links and resources

• My Pinterest account
• 88 Cross Stitch Terms Every Stitcher Needs to Know
• The 7 Things I Wish I Knew Before I Started Cross Stitching
• Should You Worry About The Back of Your Cross Stitch?

Pin for later!