We could chat on and on about thread, you and I. Like, you shouldn't run "vintage" thread through a machine or on important fabrics, it breaks easily and could also disintegrate faster. Coats & Clark's new poly covered poly thread is much more reliable than the old cotton covered poly. And did you know, the colors of thread change with the "in" colors of the season; colors are discontinued as they become outdated, and are replaced by the hot new colors being shown on the runway.
But what I really came to say is,
Hancock Fabrics has their Coats & Clark thread 50% off through this Sunday. Well, this happens a lot (the next instance is Memorial Day...and if you're going to stock up then, be sure you also get a hold of the one-day-sale 'additional 10% off your purchase' coupon). However this time was MY time!
If you sew often, and this is especially true for a 'professional' seamstress such as myself, you're going to need lots of colors of thread. It just
looks better to match your thread. It's not something people are going to notice. And
that's the point. They will notice if your thread doesn't match, and quite frankly, it can look cheap. Professionalism is perfectionism.
If you don't sew often, or mainly for yourself, don't worry about it. Go pick up a spool here or there when you need it. But if you're going to stock up and get the spectrum, promise me you won't go unless it's at least half off!
For anyone who is considering going out and getting a beginners set up of thread, I've constructed this chart, using Coats and Clark's color chart:
Here for the original; warning, it's huge!
Highlighted in red are the spools I bought this weekend (shown above). Highlighted in blue are approximations of what I already had at home. Some of those came in bulk packs so they may not be particularly necessary, but I felt the need to be thorough. Also, I got so many browns anticipating working on trousers in the future. Home sewers not doing blind or docker hems can probably get by on just a couple brown shades.
Hope this helps a bit! I could spend all day lining those little bits of sewing candy into a rainbow.