Know your needles
Thursday, October 2nd, 2014
Sewing machine needles come in many shapes and sizes. Buy yourself a pack of different sizes so you’ll have something suitable for all weights of fabric. Most packs of sewing machine needles contain both metric (size 65-110) and imperial (9-20) sizes. We don’t understand it either but are guessing that a committee might have been involved. The bigger the number, the bigger the needle.
A small needle will break if used on heavy fabrics, while a large needle will damage lighter ones.
Know your needles – the most common ones used
- Universal needles have a slightly rounded point so can be used with knit fabrics, but are still sharp enough to pierce woven fabrics.
- Denim/jeans needles have an extra-sharp point and stiffer shank, making them perfect for stitching heavy fabrics like denim or even imitation leather.
- Ballpoint needles have a rounded tip that slips between fibres of things like Lycra or coarse knits and prevent running (somewhat ironic for Lycra)
- Stretch needles are great for use on lightweight knits such as jersey
- Twin needles have two shafts on a bridge built onto a single shank. Used for making multiple rows of stitches, you will see two numbers on the label. The first number is the distance between the two needles and the second number is the needle size. Twin needles are often used to give a decorative top stitch to hems or necklines
Sizing
This is pretty simple – the finer the fabric, the smaller the needle. As a guide, for very fine synthetics and cottons go for an 8 (60), for voile, chiffon and organza an 11 (75), for cotton lawn, taffeta and silks a 12 (80), for cord, heavy suiting and denim a 16 (100) and only use the biggest needle (a 20 or 120) on very heavy cord and denim and if fancy a frolic with leather.
To change or not to change?
Blunt needles are bad news. They damage your fabric, and give uneven stitching.
Experts suggest changing the needle for every new project. Great advice and needles are relatively inexpensive – cheaper than fabric anyway. Back in the real world though, I’d usually use mine for two or maybe three projects if using light fabrics, only going to every time on heavy ones. Unless it’s expensive fabric, of course, when it’s a new needle every time. Also remeber that nothing blunts a needle quicker than running over pins, so to prolong your needle’s lifespan, remove the pins as you sew.
A very useful sewing site
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