What’s the (needle) point?

Trying to get your sewing basket up to scratch can hit problems when you have to be specific:

“Excuse me, do you have any sewing needles?”

– “Yes, we have these”

“Erm, do you have any for darning & mending”

– “Yes, we have these”

“No, I, erm, meant some fine needles”

– “Yes, we have these”

I go home in despair.

What did I fail to ask for and what did they fail to understand? I really wanted to say I was re-stocking my sewing basket and needed long pointy needles for darning, long pointy needles for embroidery and long pointy needles for hand sewing. Oh, and they all need to have big eyes to make threading easy.

Why didn’t I keep my Home Economics notes? We talked about Crewel needles and some other kinds, but I cannot remember. So I looked it up and now ask for the correct type – and they do make a difference!

Most of us have Sharps which are general purpose needles; the bigger the number, the finer the needle. Wow, how easy is that! If sewing thick fabric, buy needles with low number size, fine needles need a higher number.

I have recently discovered quilting/betweens needles – these are very short and fine with a round eye; the same as Sharps but shorter in length – apparently making it quicker to sew with them! Experienced quilters use size 11 or 12, people like me use size 7. I made the mistake of buying some 11s but have lost most of them in the seams of my sewing box when they fell out of the packet. Too fine to see!

Crewel are probably the ones you all remember from school – these are embroidery needles, with a long eye to help threading the needle with multiple threads. Most popular sizes are 7 or 9. I still have some from when I was in the Brownies – I don’t use them in case they are rusty but I can remember saving up pocket money and buying them

Occasionally, it is useful to have darning needles. These are strong needles with long eyes and sharp points. I also used to use these for sewing up knitted pieces but that is wrong – the sharp point can split threads when sewing up – use a ball point needle instead. These tend to be used as well for embellishments.

You can, like with all hobbies, buy lots of other types – leather needles, ball point, curved, tapestry, chenille, millinery but I would suggest getting them only if you need them. 

Phew, let’s do some sewing next time, eh?

William Gee sell needles by Prym, readily available by clicking here.

Alison runs Scissor Sistas – check it out now!