Cotona *is* Tanne; just wound onto smaller reels, and only available in the paler colours (that they think lacemakers want!)
I have just checked the Madeira website
http://www.madeira.de
and Cotona 30, 50 and 80 are in the retail list. On the industrial pages it's Tanne on medium or very large cops although only size 30 is mentioned. But if Cotona is still available in the finer sizes I'd expect Tanne to be available too.
Like all Madeira threads Tanne/Cotona is designed as an embroidery thread, primarily for machine embroidery although they do use Tanne 30 to make their stranded cotton. (The reason a single strand of that measures slightly thicker than Tanne is because there is no tension on the skeins of stranded as there is on the reels.)
Tanne is a softly spun 2ply thread. That means that when it's used for satin stitch the thread will flatten down and cover the surface well. It also means that for BL such as point ground with lots of twists the threads will enmesh into each other to make a soft lace that drapes well. Regular machine sewing threads made for stitching seams are 3ply, mainly for the extra strength.
I don't speak any German, but my English/German dictionary translates tanne as 'fir' as in fir-trees. The German word for cotton is baumwolle.
Brenda
On 24 Mar 2004, at 14:37, C. Johnson wrote:
In Regard to Maderia thread my Austrialian lace friend sent me this information :
The thread all of Europe, Australia and New Zealand called Cotona has been
discontinued. The thread that Europe and Australia calls Madeira Tanne is
still produced. For some reason Madeira Tanne was called Cotona in the USA
and there lies the confusion. The cotona was sewing cotton and was
available in a range of colours, whereas the Tanne is lace thread and is
available only on larger cops in white, ecru and black. Madeira Tanne is
still available. The word Tanne means cotton.
Brenda http://www.argonet.co.uk/users/paternoster/
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