Hand Sewing Needle Info

Recently I realized what a difference the right needle can make and wondered how I had completely ignored it up until
now, thank goodness for the internet.

Some other things I’ve learned:

Needle eyes have right and wrong sides - choose the larger smoother side to prevent thread wear or if you aren’t
happy with your needle's performance try threading it from the other side.
If your floss starts to fray the needle eye may be flawed or you might using too much floss.
A larger needle will help prevent wear on the thread if your fabric is rough.
A needle that leaves holes in your fabric is usually too large unless you are making bigger holes to protect the floss
from the fabric.

Needle Type Picture Description

Beading needles Standard Beading needles are very fine and long,
with long eyes and are available in sizes 10 to 15.
These needles are suitable to use with beads, pearls
and sequins and they are particularly useful in the
art of threading and stringing pearls.
Short Beading needles are ideal when attaching
beads to fabric featuring additional embroidery.

Betweens / These needles are short and thin with a small round
quilting eye. They are used for fine stitches on heavy fabric
or layers of fabric.

Bodkins and These needles are great for threading tapes and
Weaving needles elastics.
These are generally used to thread ribbons, elastics
and other tapes, and come in two different forms:
flat and round.

chenille These needles have a large eye and a sharp point

and are used in the art of crewel embroidery and
ribbon embroidery. Sizes range from 13 to 26; the
most popular sizes are 16 to 26. Size 13 and 14 are
commonly used for heavy and coarse fabrics. These
needles are identical to tapestry needles except that
they have a sharp point which will pass through
coarse fabrics
Curved Repair Curved needles are great for those difficult tasks:
sewing fabric boxes together or repairing
lampshades.
Darners As the name suggests, these are used for darning
work. Sizes 14-18 are known as yarn darners.
Yarn darners are long needles with long eyes making
them ideal for spanning large holes during mending,
using cotton or yarn. Size 14/18 are useful needles
to use when sewing pieces of knitting or crochet
together.
Darners - Long Another form of darning needle, the extra length
and large eyes make these suitable for mending with
wool.
In addition to being a darning needle these needles
are useful to use during basting and layering fabrics
together.

Darners - Short These needles have long eyes, and are used for
mending and darning using cotton or yarn.
Easy Threading Perfect for people who find it difficult to thread a
needle, these are standard sewing needles where
the top is cut to allow the thread to pass through it
from above.

embroidery Embroidery needles have a long eye which makes

threading the needle so much easier when using
multiple strands of thread. Apart from this, they are
the same length and point as an ordinary sewing
needle. The most popular sizes used to embroider
are size 7 and 9.
Because of their large eye these needles are suitable
for general sewing. They are ideal for people who
have difficulty seeing the eye of a needle.

Leather Used for leather work as the name suggests, these

needles have triangular points which pass through
tough materials without causing unnecessary
abrasion. They are ideal when working with leather,
suede and other tough materials.
Milliner’s needles Although traditionally used in the millinery trade,
they are now more commonly used for pleating,
basting and fancy decorative stitches, eg smocking.
They are similar to an ordinary sewing needle except
that they are longer.
The eye is within the width of the needle shaft so the
needle passes through pleats of fabric comfortably.

quilting These needles are very short and fine with a round
eye. The shorter length allows the quilter to create
quick and even stitching. Sizes range from 5 to 12,
we recommend a beginner to use a size 7 or a size 8.
Big Eye Quilting needles are designed with a big eye
for the ease of threading. These needles are
available in size 10.
Sharpes These needles are the most popular needle for
general sewing.
Size 2, 3 and 4 are suitable for medium to heavy
fabrics
Size 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 are suitable for light to
medium fabrics
Size 11 and 12 are suitable for fine fabrics or creating
small delicate stitches

Sizes 16-18 are known as carpet sharps and, as the

name suggests, are used in the design of carpets and
rugs.
tapestry These needles have a large eye and a blunt round
point designed for the use in needlepoint, petit
point, countered cross stitch and plastic canvas
work. They are the same sizes as Chenille but with a
blunt point.

Size 13, 14 are suitable for children to use when

stitching on Binca or 6hpi Aida fabric.
Size 16, 18, and 20 are suitable for tapestry
Size 22, 24, 26 and 28 are commonly used in cross
stitch and petit point.

Processes involved in making a needle

1. Wire is drawn down from 5's gauge steel rod.
2. The wire is then straightened and cut to 2 needle lengths.
3. Points are then formed on each end.
4. The impression of 2 eyes is stamped into the wire.
5. Holes are then punched through both impressions.
6. The wire is broken into 2 separate needles.
7. Waste metal from around the eye is removed-this is known as
cheeking.
8. The needles are then hardened.
9. To prevent brittleness, they are subsequently tempered.
10. The needles are scoured - this removes burrs from inside the eyes and
polishes them.
11. The needles are finally nickel plated, inspected, and packaged.