• Have you ever tried embroidering beads with glow-in-the-dark thread?
• Have you wondered what colour the beads would glow in the dark?
• And does the intensity of the glow depend on the structure of the beads?
• What kinds of phosphorescent threads are there?
• How long does the glow of the threads last?
• Do such threads have any shelf life?

From the moment the first phosphorescent thread came into my hands, all these questions popped into my head.

Without thinking twice, I started experimenting.

This very first piece was embroidered using German thread.

Having selected the beads, transparent beads, since we assume that all transparent beads would glow, I gave it to my niece to stitch.

Then I had to unpick it, because the transparent yellow did not glow at all, unlike the blue and pink.

The experiment continued, and my first Living Card of Preciosa beads helped me with this, back in the autumn of 2017.

Having stitched the entire Card with glow-in-the-dark thread I was very surprised, I discovered glowing alabasters, and even chalk, which glows in the dark, dimly but still glows.

And the transparent ones? Not all transparent beads can glow.

Why? And again a question.

As I understood it, different colour fixatives are probably used, or some other materials that do not allow all beads, even transparent ones, to absorb energy through themselves for the phosphorescent threads.

Since then we have started embroidering Living Cards of Preciosa beads with glow-in-the-dark thread, but my experiments did not end there.

I began experimenting with types of phosphorescent threads, since the one we used to embroider the Madeira Halloween is very expensive, which significantly increased the cost of the Cards and accordingly their final price.

And we returned once again to our beloved Madeira.

You can read about the experiments in my article and immediately settle the question of which phosphorescent threads to choose for your projects. There you will find a great deal of useful information not only about threads, but also about beads.

An article about phosphorescent, glow-in-the-dark threads

Now we invite you to see the glow of beads of various structures and colours in our new souvenir palette of Preciosa beads, called «Rainbow by Moonlight».

It gathers 40 live samples of Preciosa beads, which allow the phosphorescent thread to absorb light and then emit it, and I would like to note, emit energy in different ways.

Samples of various shades and structures, stitched with MADEIRA Halloween phosphorescent thread doubled and with a third Poliart thread, to reinforce the stitching.

Thanks to such a bead Palette, you will be able to continue experimenting further, to devise a project in which, mysteriously in the dark, for example the eyes or the contours of some lines, the halo in an icon and so on, will glow.

In the photo, you and I can see beads of various structures, embroidered with a single MADEIRA Halloween thread. As we can see, the glow varies, and it depends on the structure of the beads.

As of today, patterns are not yet being developed for embroidery taking glow-in-the-dark threads into account, but I hope that one of the designers will nonetheless take up this idea and bring it to life.

Now regarding the duration of the glow.

From experience I can say, Madeira Halloween enables the beads to glow for about 8 hours, of course there will be a gradual fading.

I must say that I still have unresolved questions about phosphorescent threads.

For example, the shelf life of phosphorescent threads.

One of my colleagues brought a DMC phosphorescent mouline thread that she had bought several years ago, and it had completely lost its properties. But our beloved Madeira Halloween still glows as before.

Bead shades, which are supplied to Ukraine and beyond, can be viewed in our Live Map of Preciosa beads.

The complete list of souvenir palettes, each with 40 or 60 live samples of Czech Preciosa beads sewn in.

"Beige in Hands" - beige shades. The palette is excellent for matching beads to skin tones.
"Blue Cornflowers" - from light blue to dark blue, from light cornflower-blue to deep ultramarine.

"The Mystery of the Elements" - a combination of shades representing the 4 elements: water, fire, air and earth.

"Freshness of Greenery" - green shades, from light to dark, with the palette bringing together bead textures that convey the naturalness of real foliage.

"Storm in the Desert" - the shimmer of sandy, golden, honey and mustard shades of a sandstorm.

"Ruby Garden" - our first palette, with a gradient from reds to shades of burgundy.

"Harmony in the Ocean" - a fantasy palette, the diversity of the underwater world in shades of beads.

"Colours of Autumn" - an assortment of enchanting autumn shades.

"Emerald Scatter" - turquoise, emerald, sea green.

"I AM A PATRIOT" - created in 2018, for Ukraine's Independence Day. It conveys the shades of the Ukrainian flag.

"Mouse Crumbs" - a monochrome of grey shades, well-chosen ready-made keys that you can use when selecting beads for nature, animals and so on.

"No Way Without Matte" - a palette that brought a smile to many of our craftswomen. Our favourite and mysterious matte bead texture - and there are many kinds of matte, which you can get to know in this Palette.

"Olive Khaki" - a very useful Palette, bringing together mustard and olive shades, khaki and jade. Shades that very often cause difficulties when choosing beads.

"Ukrainian Guelder Roses" - perfect gradients of red shades, from red to dark red. This is a palette of ready-made keys for your patterns.

"And How About PURPLE for You" - purple shades most often cause difficulties when choosing beads for pictures. With this palette, you will be able to choose harmonious combinations of purple shades for your work.

"Sunbeams" - a Palette of the sun, of the shades of life and energy.

"Droplets of Mist" - a selection of white, grey, silver and black bead shades.

"Rainbow by Moonlight" - various textures (glass, sol-gel, alabaster, ground, matte and so on) and shades of Czech beads, embroidered with Halloween Madeira glow-in-the-dark thread. The beads chosen are only those through which the thread can accumulate energy and glow in the dark. Instructions for working with this palette are included.

The manufacturer reserves the right to change the product’s specifications, the appearance of its components and the colour scheme without prior notice.