Are all needles suited to all kinds of fabric? The answer is ‘NO’. Whether you’re sewing by hand or machine, there are specific sewing needles for every task, machine type, or fabric. So, if you’re a newbie to sewing, here is a helpful guide in choosing the sewing needle that you’ll need.
Selecting the Right Needle for the Job
Check here the Sewing Needles you will need in Sewing
The most important thing to know about sewing is choosing the right needles. Regardless of whether you are sewing by hand or machine, the only similarities of these needles are they all start with a point. So what are these type of needles you will be using? Here we have 7 different types of needles for a different fabric.
1. Ball Point Needles
The unique thing about these needles is the rounded point rather than sharp. It is specially designed for knitting and stretch fabrics. The large size needle has a more rounded point. The ball point needles smoothly pushes between the yarn of the fabric instead of piercing them like Sharp pointed needles do. The sizes of this needle vary from 9 to 6 and the 16 size needle has the most rounded.
2. Quilting Point Needles
The quilting needle is designed with a trapped point that will allow you to stitch the fabric layers. The tapering point prevents from damaging the quality of the fabric. This needle is usually small and hard compared from the normal needles. The sizes are 9, 10, 11, 12.
3. Regular Point Needles (Sharp)
You can use this type of needle if you are using a woven fabric like a cotton and linen. This type of needle will allow you to sew an even stitch that causes no damage to your fabric. This is advisable for edge stitching in a woven fabric. The regular point has different sizes which vary from size 9, the finest size to the heaviest size 18.
4. Wedge Point Needles
This type of needle is appointed on leather or vinyl sewing operation. The smaller size of this needle is used for soft and pliable leather while the bigger are used for heavier layers. The sizes vary from 11 to 18.
5. Embroidery Needles
To accommodate larger or thicker threads, the embroidery needle were designed with larger eyes. The design is also intended to protect the embroidery threads.
6. Universal Point Needles
This needle is generally used for a sewing machine. It is also used only for sewing with woven and knit fabric because it can easily slip through fabric waves of the knit fabrics. The usual size of these needles is 14/90 and 11/75.
7. Topstitching Needles
The best needle when using a heavy topstitching threads is this Topstitching needle. It has a large extra eye and deeper groove. You can use the double thread for this needle for more accurate stitching.
For sewing lesson basics, Drea Johnson has got a video for us on choosing machine needles. Watch the video below:
Click here to learn how to insert and remove needles from your sewing machine.