DMC 700 — Bright Christmas Green

The name tells you exactly what you're dealing with: this is a green designed to sit on a Christmas tree and be seen from across the room. DMC 700 Bright Christmas Green isn't subtle, it isn't nuanced, and it isn't trying to be. Its hex #218020 reads as a deep, fully saturated forest green — the precise shade of holly leaves, fresh conifer needles, and the vivid felt on a Christmas stocking. It's one of the most purpose-built colors in the DMC lineup, and it excels at exactly that purpose.

Thematic Power and When to Use It

Not many threads earn a name that contains a holiday. DMC 700 is one of the few, and the designation is earned. In the cross stitch community, December brings an annual conversation about exactly which greens to use for holiday pieces — the DMC Christmas Green family (700, 699, 701) is almost always the answer when you want unambiguous festive green. DMC 700 provides the deepest, richest value of the trio. It works for the shadow areas of holly leaves, the darker sections of pine boughs, and the body of Christmas tree designs where a full, saturated green is required.

That said, the "Christmas" designation undersells this thread for eleven months of the year. At its core, 700 is simply a deep, bright, pure green — the color of healthy grass in strong sun, of fresh basil leaves, of vigorous spring foliage at peak color. Frog and lizard embroidery frequently uses 700 for the vivid green of tropical species. Spring garden designs find it useful for leaf areas that need maximum color intensity. Wildlife designs use it for the emerald patches on certain ducks or the iridescent green on beetles and hummingbirds.

The Christmas Green Trio

DMC 699 Christmas Green, 700 Bright Christmas Green, and 701 Light Christmas Green form a natural three-value shading sequence for holiday foliage. DMC 699 is the darkest, providing shadow; 700 carries the mid-range fill; 701 handles the lighter mid-tones and areas where foliage catches light. Many holiday designs list all three. The distinction between 699 and 700 is meaningful — 699 tends toward slightly darker and less saturated, while 700 holds maximum brightness at this deep value. If you only have two of the three, 700 and 701 together cover the primary range, with 310 black for outline rather than 699 for shadow.

Working with High Saturation Colors

Highly saturated threads like DMC 700 have specific working characteristics worth knowing. They tend to bleed color slightly when stripped and moistened, so test on your fabric before wetting for a loop start if you use that technique. On white Aida, the deep green can occasionally leave a faint impression if the thread is under high tension for extended periods — not a permanent stain, but worth knowing if you're using a scroll frame with tight tension. Railroading 700 is worthwhile in fill areas because the high saturation means any twist in the strands shows as a darker shadow line, particularly in raking light. Flat strands carry the full bright green evenly.