How to separate embroidery floss without a tangle
Most tangles start with the skein, not the stitching.
Finding the end
A new DMC skein has two paper bands. The loose end is at the end with the wider band showing the colour number. Pull from that end and the skein feeds out; pull from the other and it knots inside the band.
One strand at a time
Cut about 18 inches. Pinch the top, take a single strand between finger and thumb and draw it straight upward. The remaining strands will scrunch up under your hand; that is normal, and they relax when you let go. Never pull two at once.
Storing cut lengths
Wind leftovers onto a card bobbin marked with the DMC number, or thread them through a punched card. A loose pile of cut colours is the usual way to lose track of which shade is which, and two blues that look the same in the pile do not look the same stitched side by side.
