Needle Guide

Doesn’t it feel like just when you finally remember how to insert your bobbin the correct direction the first time, you learn there are umpteen different needle types and a quadrillion thread types and so much more to learn that it can be overwhelming! For me, the very thing that makes sewing the best hobby is that I can’t possibly ever know it all. There’s always more to learn. However, I do also know it can feel like drinking from the proverbial firehose and there are just things I don’t feel I need to memorize.

Welcome to your pocket needle cheat sheet. (This is a PDF. I highly recommend downloading and opening with Adobe Acrobat PDF Reader.)

The brain-storage-and-recall capacity is limited. Print this card out, cut along the cut lines, fold in half, and voila! You have your micro travel cheat sheet for garment sewing needles, and a reminder to come back here for a deeper understanding of the why and the what of garment sewing needles.

BRANDS

A quick blurb about brands and context. I’m referring to Schmetz needles throughout this post specifically because I find them the most reliable and I carry them in the shop, but most of this applies to any modern domestic sewing machine needle. Modern means most machines made after 1940. When Schmetz or any needle maker claims their needles will fit any domestic machine, they mean a 15×1, AA needle size, now referred to as 705, that really does fit 99.9% of all domestic machines.

Of course if you have some rare, Eldredge with a shuttle bobbin from 1874, you’ll need to get the hard-to-find Sincere’s books and I’m going to assume at that point you’re in a LOT deeper than I am going to go here, hahaha!

All domestic machine needles have a top shank* that is flat on one side, and curved on the other, making a semi-circle if you were to look at the top down. This makes it nearly impossible to insert incorrectly. Industrial needles have a completely round shank. They are not interchangeable. Your machine’s timing with the bobbin, needles, and upper/lower threads is within fractions of a centimeter.

I don’t know how much your repair shop is per hour, but I feel it is worth getting the right needles.

Most, but not all, modern domestic machines have the needle inserted with the flat part of the shank to the back of the machine, and the eye of the needle, or the thread hole, is facing the sewing machine operator. Some machines, like a vintage 148.13 series Kenmore, have the flat shank to the left and the eye is perpendicular to the operator. This is pretty rare, but if you love vintage machines, check the user manual.

SIZES

For the sake of this post, the Sewing Studio is primarily a fine garment fabrics store with some fabrics also suitable for quilting and bag making. Therefore, we will be focusing on garment needles. Any needle size required over 100/16 means you should be sewing on an industrial machine.

The larger the size, the larger the diameter of needle. The range I will be discussing is 60/8 to 100/16, with 60 being the smallest and 100 being the largest. The first number correlates to the diameter or gauge, and is the more universally used size number. The second number is proprietary to Singer and isn’t as commonly used anymore, but if you have a vintage Singer, it’s useful to know what the manual is referring to regarding needle sizes.

Size and needle type are BOTH important for a good stitch. The lighter weight of fabric, the smaller the gauge required. I will refer to “punching down the fabric” when you’re sewing. If you find as you sew, the fabric looks like and/or sounds like it’s getting punched down into the feed dogs by your needle, your needle is either dull/damaged, too big, or the wrong kind of needle aka point type. If you’re breaking your needle or you’re not getting through the layers, you’re using a too small needle and/or the wrong point type.

A size 60 to 75 is for your fine silk, voile, lawn, and higher end, quality quilting cottons like Art Gallery or Tula Pink, etc. I use a 75-80 Microtex (Sharp) for 80% of my sewing needs and have for well over a decade. Sizes 80-90 are the next 15% of my sewing, taking care of most twills, denim, fleece, flannels, and leather/pleather that is domestic machine-thin (Lambskin, neoprene, flexible vinyl.) I sometimes need to break out the size 100, but when I do, it’s going to be a heavy twill and it’s going to be the belt loops/hem/waistband with a hump-jumper.* Or it’s going to be a big, thick wool coat or layered bag. If I’m getting over the 100 size, I’m on my industrial machine. That isn’t an option for most home sewists, but sometimes you can rent one at a local apparel manufacturer, or the local dry cleaners may have one if you find yourself in a pinch.

Let’s get into needle types and explain this more thoroughly.

UNIVERSAL NEEDLES

I don’t sew “universal fabric” so why would I use a “universal needle?” I buy a pack of “universal needles” once every 3-5 years. I sew very fast, I know my fabric content and type, and I don’t like trouble shooting something like skipped or bad stitches. That’s a waste of precious time. Universal needles are great when I need to sew the odd piece of felt, mystery fabric content a child brought to me to mend, the yearly holiday decoration made with abnormal materials, or something weird like coated Sunbrella fabric. A Universal needle has a slightly rounded tip – not sharp enough to go through tightly woven material and not round enough for most knits. Keep a pack of size 80 and maybe 100 Universal needles in your kit for those moments when you don’t want to ruin your speciality needles or someone brings you some mystery mending. Maybe even the new Chrome needles which last even longer, then you may not ever have to buy them again!

I don’t sew “universal fabric” so why would I use a “universal needle?”

MICROTEX

Microtex needles are my most purchased needle. I buy them in every size. Some companies call them “Sharps,” but I buy Schmetz and have always called them Microtex. They’re extra pointy and sharp, cleanly piercing the tightest woven fabric. I learned about Microtex needles when at a quilt guild meeting, we were discussing piecing and the dreaded “cloth punching” sound and feeling. I’ve tested this on 48 & 58 series Kenmores, a Viking Sapphire 835, a Janome Memory Craft, Bernina B480, Bernina Record 830, and a Singer 201. Quality, tightly woven poplin, quilting cotton, cotton lawn – anything with a tight weave, will get “punched down” into the feed dogs by that slightly rounded tip on the Universal needle even when using a straight stitch plate.* A quilt designer recommended using Microtex needles and I’ve never looked back. I use sizes 60-75 on silks, rayon challis and crepe, wool challis, high quality quilting cottons like Art Gallery, cotton lawns like Liberty of London and Robert Kaufman, etc. I use Microtex size 80 on linen, chambray, double gauze, cupro, quilting cottons – blouse to slack weight materials. I buy size 90 on the occasion a denim or leather needle isn’t quite what I need for the denim, leather, or vinyl I’m working with, or I have a lot of layers like in bag making.

DENIM, QUILTING, TOP-STITCHING

I’m lumping these together because they’re pretty self-explanatory. I have at least a book of each in my stash. In my experience, Top-stitching thread only works with a Top-stitching needle, much like if you know someone with the embroidery set up, they have to buy embroidery needles. I have never gotten Top-stitching thread to work on any of my machines, regardless of needles, EXCEPT for Gutermann Mara 70. I have tried the white spool Gutermann Top-stitching thread and Mettler’s version and both nested and bubbled no matter what I did, but the Gutermann Mara 70 is pure magic, working in both the bobbin and the needle. Skip the hassle and get the Mara 70. Why they call it 70 sort of scrambles my brain, but we’ll get into that in another post.

Denim needles work great on, you guessed it, twills of any kind including denim. Sometimes duck cloth or a bottom-weight linen may work better with a Microtex 90 and sometimes with a Denim 80-100. I keep a stock of all of them. Like I said, I hate trouble shooting bad stitches and would rather just have the right needle on hand.

Quilting needles are NOT for piecing quilts but for quilting the whole “quilt sandwich” with top layer, batting, and backing, and with a walking foot. I’ve only bought quilting needles in size 90, and I do feel they are the only needle for the job. For piecing quilts, go back up the the trusty Microtex 75-80 size. I’m adding in the Quilting needles here because of the popularity of quilted jackets, and a Quilting needle is handy getting binding on as well as quilting or mending your quilts & jackets, not to mention we all have scraps we’re saving for “some day” quilts.

BALLPOINT JERSEY & STRETCH

I feel this is trickier than it needs to be. It’s like how all tortoises are turtles, but not all turtles are tortoises. Stretch needles work on all knits. They’re the “turtle” in this scenario. Stretch needles are the catch-all for knits like Microtex are the catch-all for wovens. Ballpoint needles work best on knits with little to no elastane/spandex/nylon, etc. You do not want to sew swimwear with a Ballpoint needle. You’ll get the dreaded “fabric punching” again. A Ballpoint needle will shove that swimwear fabric right into your feed dogs and you’ll cry. Ask me how I know. However, a Ballpoint really does very nicely on that 100% cotton waffle knit, or that wool-linen blend knit…the luxury knits that are decidedly NOT performance knits. If you’re never going to sew swimwear or yoga leggings, Ballpoint needles are your jam but if you’re going to sew a cotton-spandex jersey Adrienne Blouse, I would get a book of Stretch Needles.

If you like to mix it up, or want that cotton/rayon knit jersey with spandex so the elbows don’t bag out, or like sewing bras and leggings, then Stretch needles all the way. You want to sew swimwear without crying? STRETCH needles. Stretch needles are so much the catch-all of knits that Twin-needles only come in Stretch and not Ballpoint for knits. If you’re in a pinch and don’t have a Ballpoint for your 100% cotton/linen/silk/wool, you CAN use Stretch needles. I sew a lot of Merino wool with a Stretch needle. The only time a Stretch needle annoys me is when I’m sewing a more open weave sweater knit, and even then it’s not so much the Stretch needle as it is that with the combination of snagging on the feed dogs or snagging on the walking foot feed dogs or the open toe of a wide foot. I feel like open sweater knits need more finagling & patience in general.

Regarding sizes for knits, the same idea applies as with wovens. The finer and lighter, the smaller you want, but knits have a LOT more variety than wovens. I often start with size 80 Stretch, and move up or down from there if needed. If I’m making a fleece pullover, I will likely start off with a 90, or if I’m sewing a bra, I might start off with a 70, but 80 is always a safe place to start. Even though I do have a Coverstitch machine and a domestic sewing machine with reliable zig-zag & triple-stitch options, sometimes I want the simplicity of a twin needle, so I keep at least a half dozen twin needles in my stash.

GLOSSARY

* Needle Shank is the part that goes into your sewing machine’s needle bar. A domestic machine will have the flat side of the shank inserted the same way, every time. Usually, the flat side is inserted while facing away from the operator, and the size/type color designations of the Schmetz needle are visible. Some vintage machines have the flat side facing left. Check the machine’s manual. A Hump Jumper or Seam Jumper is a tool used to even out the machine’s foot on a high seam, making the feed dogs able to grip, and the machine able to sew over bulky seams. Often, modern machines come with a hump jumper in the tool kit, but before these plastic doodads were invented, a matchbook sufficed. The Stitch Plate is the interchangeable metal plate that sits around your feed dogs, over your bobbin case. Most modern domestic machines come standard with a plate that allows for zig-zag stitching with an oval needle hole the width of the maximum zig-zag stitch for the machine. Some heavy duty domestic machines, like a Janome HD9 or the Juki 2010Q, some vintage machines like the Singer 201 and Featherweights, and all straight stitch industrial machines ONLY sew a straight stitch and thereby have a stitch plate with a round hole just big enough for the needle. Some zig-zag capable domestic machines have the option to buy a straight-stitch plate at an extra cost. These are valuable when you sew fast and/or very lightweight fabric, and find the fabric is being “punched down” through the needle plate. However, if the extra plate was not standard with the cost of the machine, this should not be the first solution presented. The more sensible solutions are: the needle is the wrong type, size, dull, damaged, or the thread is wrong, or possibly the bobbin case isn’t set right, the foot pressure is too loose, or the thread jumped out of the upper tension disk.

 

This blog was originally posted on November 12, 2023.