Sewing Machine Needles Demystified

I had some requests from subscribers to do a video about sewing machine needles & thought a blog post would go along great with that. I’ve found using the correct needle for the sewing project you’re working on will not only give you better end results, it will cause you less frustration when sewing. I’m going to talk about the needles I use the most & a few I rarely or have never used. I hope y’all find the information useful.

Sewing Machine Needles

Earlier this year I happened upon an estate sale of an avid crafter. That’s where most of the needles in the bin below came from. I wound up with plenty that I regularly use & some I have never used. You’ll notice all these are Schmetz needles, which are the ones I prefer to use. I’ve used them in both Brother & Singer machines with success. They seem to have a better size range & price than others do, plus I like the little cases they come in.

The “130/705 H” or “15 x 1 H” you see printed on the boxes is the needle system. That just means the needles are for home sewing machines, not industrial sewing machines. The “H” stands for the German word Hohlkehle which means “scarf”. That’s the flat part of the shank, but I really thought the “H” stood for “home”! : D

The other numbers – 70/10, 80/12, 90/14, etc. – are the size of the needle. The larger numbers are the European sizing & the smaller numbers are American sizing. The numbers indicate the size or thickness of the needle. A 70/10 needle is much smaller than a 90/14 needle.

This diagram will show you the parts of a needle…

Sorry about the smudgy letters, I’ve never been good at waiting for things to dry! Now that you know more about sewing machine needles, let’s take a look at the different kinds I have in my box.

Universal

Most home sewists have more than a few universal needles floating around their sewing space. This needle has a slightly rounded tip, so it works on knits & wovens. If you only sew to repair things or casually, these needles will work in most cases.

I use these needles when I’m sewing through layers of different kinds of materials. For example, it’s my favorite to use when sewing zippers in bags. Typically I use the 80/12 or 90/14. These are also my favorites for free motion quilting. I find that they don’t break as easily with all the back & forth!

Microtex

This needle is very slim & sharp to help penetrate tightly woven fabrics, like high thread count quilting cotton. It does wear out faster than others because of that, but it’s wonderful to sew with.

This is my favorite needle to piece quilts with because it goes through the fabric so smoothly. I also like to use it when sewing slinky satin, polyester, gauze, etc.

Quilting

This needle is supposed to be especially designed for piecing quilts & machine piecing. I really can’t tell much difference between this & a universal needle.

I’d have to say, I rarely reach for these needles!

Topstitch

A topstitch needle has a larger eye than most other needles. It’s designed to keep your stitches straight & smooth. You can also use a heavier weight of thread with this needle.

I use this needle when I do straight line quilting & for topstitching the bags I make.

Stretch & Jersey/Ballpoint

You may have seen these before & thought they were both for the same thing. Both have a ballpoint tip to help the needle push between fibers, but there is a difference. The jersey or ballpoint needle is for cotton or cotton blend knits, like T-shirt material. This fabric is stretchy because of the construction of the fabric & not because of the fiber.

The stretch needle is for synthetic, highly elastic knits. These fabrics usually have a high Lycra content & are super stretchy. Think of athletic wear, swimwear, and/or dance wear fabrics. I use these needles for what they’re made for because they don’t really work for anything else. : )

Jeans/Denim

These needles are for heavy duty fabrics like denim, upholstery, canvas, etc. They are reinforced & have a slight ball point to make it easier to get through tough layers.

If you’ve been hanging around awhile, you’ll know that I go through these a good bit when fixing my husband’s work pants! I also use them when sewing heavier bag fabrics.

Leather

Another needle that’s used for exactly what it says – leather. It’s sharp & designed to cut through the leather because there are no fibers to go between. Be sure you’re sewing exactly where you want to when sewing leather because the holes are permanent!

I’ve used these occasionally when sewing costumes for my son.

Metallic

If you’re sewing with a metallic thread, this is the needle for you. It’s designed with a longer eye to keep the thread from shredding while sewing.

I’ve never used these before, so I really don’t know if they work better. Something to try in the future!

Special Needles

I realized after I did my video that I had a bunch of different kinds of double or twin needles & even a wing or hemstitch needle I forgot to show.

Double needles come in all kinds of sizes & widths. They are designed to put two rows of stitching in at one time so they’re evenly spaced. You can even find triple needles as well.

This strange looking needle is called a wing or hemstitch needle. It’s used to create decorative open work on fabrics.

I’ve never used either one of these needles, but I plan try both of them out one day. It seems like they will be good to give a special finishing touch to a project.

Storing Machine Needles

I don’t know about y’all, but I have a hard time keeping up with what needle I have in my machine! When I’m sewing bags, I change the needle out for different tasks & I don’t want to have to put them back in the case each time. I marked this divided pincushion to help me keep up with my needles in use.

I keep it right beside the sewing machine so I can easily look & see what needle I have in it. Now sometimes I still forget because I broke one or it was time to dispose of it. Then I use my camera phone to enlarge the end so I can see what size it is…

I mean how do they expect you to see those numbers otherwise?!?

A couple of tips before I go:

• It’s recommended to change needles after every 6-8 hours sewing or between large projects. I really don’t remember to do this & usually just change it when I notice things are wonky. : )
• Put used needles in an old pill bottle or tic-tac container before throwing them in the trash. This keeps people from getting poked!
• Check out Schmetz for more info & great downloads for sewing needles.

And here’s the video if you’d like to watch it too:

Pin it for later!