Needles, threaders and thimbles
Needles are an essential part of sewing, as much as thread and fabric. And the right needle can make your sewing so much easier and more enjoyable. Here we will look at some of the more popular needle types and their uses, expanding on the brief discussion in Getting Started in Hand Stitching. We will also have a look at a couple of optional extras – threaders and thimbles – that can also make your sewing a more pleasant experience.
Before we go any further, let’s get some technical terms sorted, so we’re all talking about the same thing. Needles are generally made up of the following three parts, which vary according to needle's purpose. The tip, which is usually sharp, the shaft, which varies in width and length, and the eye, which is where the thread is held, and varies in size and shape.
A quick recap - Some popular needles
One of the most common needles available is called a sharp. This needle has a sharp point, a fine shaft, is of medium length, and has a small eye. Used for general sewing, it is popularly found in sewing kits, often ready threaded with a general purpose sewing thread to sew back on that loose button. While very good for general sewing, the sharp is not so good for embroidery, because the eye of this needle tends to be small and will not accommodate thicker threads or multiple strands of thread.
More often used for embroidery is the crewel needle, which again has a sharp point, a fine shaft, is of medium length, but with a long eye. This makes it easier to thread with multiple strands of thread and is popular for stranded cottons and silks.
The chenille needle is another pointed needle, but this has wider shaft and a long eye. Chenille needles are useful for thicker threads and fine yarns.
A tapestry needle is similar to the chenille needle in that it has a wider shaft and a long eye, but it has a blunt tip, and is designed to work with tapestry fabrics which do not need the needle to pierce the fabric and make the hole for the thread to follow.
Needles are further identified by their size, where usually the larger the number, the finer the needle. These sizes range within each needle category. Generally, the finer needle you can use, the more precise your hand sewing will be.
Choosing the right needle
So how do I choose the right needle for the sewing task at hand?
As discussed in Getting Started in Hand Stitching, there are a number of basic considerations when choosing a needle for your hand sewing. These include the fabric and thread choices.
A closely woven fabric will require a sharp needle, while an open weave fabric may work better with a blunt needle.
The needle needs to be large enough to accommodate the thread, both through the eye of the needle and when pulling the thread through the fabric.
If you can't thread the needle, you can't sew with that needle. Enough said. The needle also needs to make a hole in the fabric large enough for the thread to pull through without dragging, as this can lead to damaged fabric, damaged thread, and sore fingers.
Beyond these considerations however, often the style of hand sewing that you are doing will have a say in the needle that you choose, because along the way some clever people have noticed that changing the proportions of a needle, or adjusting its shape has made the task at hand so much easier. So now a third consideration can be taken into account. The purpose of your sewing.
While many sewing tasks can be completed with one of the more common or popular needles, you may find your particular task requires something special. You can’t sew on beads if the needle doesn’t fit through the hole, and no one wants to lose their needle in a soft toy or doll.
So once you start doing specialist work, your tools become specialised suit the task, and this means your needles. Here are some specialty, fit-for-purpose needles to bring ease to your pleasure of sewing.
Some specialist needles
Sashiko needles have developed to suit their task with a sharp point, and a large eye to accommodate the thicker threads used.
They also have a longer shaft than ordinary needles so you can load a number of running stitches on the needle each time you pull it through the fabric.
The shaft is moderately thick, giving it the strength required to sew through layers of fabric with several stitches at once.
Straws or milliner needles, traditionally used in the making of headwear, are popular with embroiderers for making bullion knots.
The eye is small, making the shaft an even diameter along the whole needle. This makes the needle easier to pull through the multiple wraps of the bullion knot.
Short Between needles are used in quilting. Similar to Sharps, they have a sharp point, fine shaft and small eye, but their short length is used to advantage when quilting, where a rocking motion to move the needle through the layers of fabric is used.
This shorter needle is less likely to bend under the constant strain placed on it by the quilting motion.
Wool needles, used in the construction of hand-knit garments, have a blunt tip, a wide shaft, and an extra large eye.
The blunt tip slips between the knitted stitches, rather than splitting the yarn.
The large eye can accommodate the thickness of the yarn.
And the oversized needle is easy to find by feel in the bulkier than usual knitted fabric.
Doll needles are long and thick, so they can be pushed through the many layers of a doll without breaking.
They can be used to attach limbs through the body of the doll or other soft toy, and also to sculpt expressions in the faces of dolls and toys.
Beading needles are made to be long and extra fine, to fit though the small holes of beads.
With the long needle you can thread a number of beads on the needle at a time, which is useful when creating beaded fringes.
Being so fine, the eye of the needle is also quite small. Some beading needles, called "Big eye" needles, address this issue by splitting the shaft for much of the length of the needle. This gap is usually closed, but can be gently opened to pass the thread through.
Beading needles are especially fragile because of the extra fine shaft.
Darning needles are a great work-horse in the sewing room. Made thicker with a long eye to accommodate thicker threads, they are used for mending garments, particularly woollen items such as socks and jumpers.
Traditional darning is done by creating a new woven fabric over the hole, and it preferred in socks as the repair is flat and smooth.
Swiss darning is a technique used to repair knitted garments, the stitches mimicking pattern of the knitted stitch. Darning needles used for knitted garments may have blunt tips to minimise splitting the yarn.
Needles for sewing leather come with a sharp triangular point, as they have to cut a hole, rather than go between fibres of the fabric.
This sharp point minimises the risk of tearing the leather as you sew, as this would reduce the strength of the finished seam.
Some effort is still required to push the extra sharp needle through the leather, especially when it is heavier and quite thick, so a thimble is a very useful tool to have, to protect your fingers as you sew.
Not just straight, needles can also come in different shapes, such as with a bent tip, or curved so you can work from just one side of the fabric.
Curved needles come in a variety of sizes for different purposes.
Often called a Mattress needle, they are designed for sewing where you cannot get you hand behind the surface of the fabric being sewn.
They range from thick, heavy duty needles for mattresses, to very fine needles designed to sew beads onto finished items.
These are just a sample of needles that have been designed for a specific task. While many sewing tasks can be completed with one of the more common or popular needles, you may find your particular task requires something special. You can’t sew on beads if the needle doesn’t fit through the hole, and no one wants to lose their needle in a soft toy.
Self-Threading Needles
And another innovation in sewing equipment is the self-threading needle. These too come in more than one guise, the main difference being top threading or side threading.
These top threading self-threading needles are standard sharps with an additional open-top eye. As the thread must pass through tight one-way gates to reach the eye this can be rough on threads, but if you don't rethread the needle constantly, this shouldn't be an issue.
The side-threading needle has a small spiral that allows the thread into the eye and keeps it there.
Like any needle, the size of the thread you can use is limited by the size of the eye.
To thread these needles, make a small loop in the thread to go through the opening. I find it easier to wrap the loop around my finger, and steady the needle against my finger as I guide the thread to the right spot. It might feel awkward at first, but a little practice makes it easier.
Needle Quality
As with many other things in life, not all needles are created equal. The quality of needles can vary depending on brand and price.
When used for a short sewing job, this difference may not be obvious, but when sewing for an extended period of time, you may begin to notice things such as the thread being shredded by a rough edge in the eye of the needle.
Threaders
And while we’re making our sewing more fun and our lives easier with specialised needles, there are other tools that can ease our sewing journey too. One of these is the needle threader.
Needle threaders can be very straight forward with simple loops or hooks. They can also be quite complex with springs and levers.
One of the most popular needle threaders is made from a thin piece of wire and a grip that holds the wire in place. The wire is passed through the eye of the needle and then the thread is passed through the loop of wire. You use the grip to then pull the wire loop with the thread, back through the eye of the needle. Simple and effective.
A note of caution to the enthusiastic. Many a wire has been pulled out of the grip by trying to force a too-thick thread through the eye of the needle. If the thread is too thick for the eye, no amount of tugging will get it through. If in doubt as to the strength of your threader, grip the base of the threader where the wires are attached, for added security.
Another very simple needle threader is a small hook embedded in a grip. You pass the hook through the eye, catch the thread and gently pull it through. Again, simple and effective. This threader is best suited to thin threads, and there are needles which have eyes too small for the hook to go through.
An innovative needle threader is the Clover Embroidery Threader. This gadget is similar in concept to the wire threader, but has a strip that is pushed through the eye of the needle. The result of the different shape is that the thread is above and below the threader when pulled back through the eye, so eliminating the problem of bulk of having threads side-by-side, that can make it hard to pull a wire threader back through.
These tools both still require a keen eye and a steady hand. Is there an easier way? Well, lucky for us, people are always looking for ways to make things easier, and so it is with needle threaders.
One such is the Clover Desk Needle Threader, which comes with both a spring and a lever. You insert the needle, eye down, in the hole, lay the thread across the gap and press the lever. A spring pushes the threader into the thread and through the eye. Very easy. Specifically designed for oval eye needles and a single thread, it works with needles both fine and thicker, and offers a great time saver for hand quilters. It even has a thread cutter so you can measure out and cut your thread once you have your needle ready.
There are many different styles and shapes, but the basic mechanics remain the same. Either pull the thread through the eye, or push it through the eye. Each threader has its limitations and advantages. Regardless of which one you choose to use, the caution remains the same. If the thread is too thick for the eye of the needle, you are more likely to damage your threader than succeed in threading your needle.
Thimbles
And after we have all our equipment assembled and we start sewing, there is one last piece of equipment that the enthusiastic sewist might appreciate. The thimble. A thimble is a valuable item which can speed your sewing as well as save your fingers from damage.
When working with a very fine needle, it is possible to find that the eye-end of the needle digs into your finger tip as you push it through the fabric. The barrier the thimble creates will make it easier to push the needle through because you are able to use an appropriate amount of force without fear of drawing blood.
Thimbles also come in a variety of shapes and sizes.
The traditional metal cup sits on the tip of your finger, but this style of thimble can also be made from plastic or leather.
Quilting thimbles have a lip that catches the end of the needle, allowing control of the rocking motion as the needle is moved in and out of the fabric layers.
A Sashiko thimble protects the hand when you push the needle through layers of fabric and multiple stitches at a time. Using the palm to push the needle through the fabric takes much of the strain off the fingers as you sew.
Leather thimbles eliminate the issue of sweaty finger tips, they protect the skin on the end of your finger and are comfortable and secure to wear. If you are doing sewing that requires additional pressure to get the needle through the fabric, they can come with a dimpled metal guard, which offers even more protection. Look out for our pop-up video of the making of our leather thimble.
Specialised needles, threaders and thimbles are a step up from the essential equipment of sewing, but they can make your stitching easier, more comfortable or even safer. This makes them worth investigating as you progress along your stitching journey.
See our video on Needles, Threaders and Thimbles, Oh My on YouTube
Watch how to make your own Leather Thimble from a scrap of leather
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