Do you ever ask yourself which sewing machine needle should I be using? Then this useful guide to sewing machine needles from sewing expert Ann Haughton will help.
This is a massive subject! So I have decided to concentrate on the basics of domestic sewing machine needles.
What size sewing machine needle do I need?
Sewing machine needles are sized in metric and imperial. The smaller the numbers the finer the needle. The size of a needle is calculated by its diameter, thus a 90 needle is 0.9mm in diameter.
| Size 10 = | 70 |
| Size 11 = | 75 |
| Size 12 = | 80 |
| Size 14 = | 90 |
| Size 16 = | 100 |
| Size 18 = | 110 |
| Size 20 = | 120 |
| No 60 = | Silks, cotton lawn, organza and sheer fabrics |
| No 70 = | Cotton lawn, lining fabrics |
| No 80 = | Cotton shirting, quilting cotton, |
| No 90 = | Linen, linen union curtain fabrics, cushion fabrics, cotton sateen curtain linings, |
| No 100 = | Denim |
| No 110 = | Upholstery fabrics and canvas weight fabrics, leather, pvc and vinyls |
| No 120 = | Thick Denim and Heavy Canvas, thick leather |
Within the different sewing needle sizes are different types of specialist sewing machine needles used for sewing particular fabrics.
Sharp Needles
Natural materials i.e. cotton, linen, wool, cotton jersey you will need to use a ‘sharp’ needle. Now I’m not being funny they are referred to as sharps!
Stretch Needles
Stretch needles are ballpoint needles that are coated to allow them to slip through difficult fabrics. Stretchy fabrics are tricky for the needle to separate the fibres and sew well. The result is puckering and or missed stitches in a seam. The coating on the stretch needles just enables them to slide through the fibres and maintain a good stitch
Leather Needles
Leather needles are spear shaped to help cut the leather as the stitch is being formed. If you try to sew leather and faux leather with for example an ordinary size 110 needle the machine will struggle. So by using a leather needle the machine will be able to sew more easily.
Machine Embroidery Needles
These are again available in a variety of sizes and are generally used in the top end embroidery machines. These machines produce intricate designs at a significant speed. The needles enable the machine to sew dense designs without snagging at the fabric or breaking the needle. More recently Titanium needles have become available. The titanium needles are able to cope with the intense heat that is created by the rapid movement machine to create these designs and not break as an ‘ordinary’ needle would. Embroidery
needles also have larger eye’s to accommodate the slightly thicker nature of embroidery thread.
Why do Needles Break?
Needles break because they are not right for the application that you are doing. If you tried to sew Denim with a size 70 needle it would just break. Denim needles are slightly angled at the end so that instead of penetrating the fabric at a 90 degree angle it does it at a reduced angle thus going through the layers at slightly less tension.
How often should I change my sewing machine needle?
Needles should be changed after 6 hours of sewing or at the end of a project, whichever comes first. If ever you have a stitching problem, the first thing you should do is to change your needle.
Where can I buy sewing machine needles?
The following shops have a vast range of sewing machine needles for you to buy:
