Home » Home & Style » Quilting » Sewing Machine Needles for Quilting

Sewing Machine Needles for Quilting

© Jeanne Walsh

Help for Quilters!
Download my new ebook Quilts Like Grandma Made" A Best of Suite Anthology on quilting at your fingertips,from color to borders to binding all together in an ebook ready to be printed. Help is on the way!

I'm ready to sew so I pick up that little box that is labeled "Sewing Machine" and search for the appropriate needle for the quilt project I want to work on. But what are all these needles I've collected over the years, and what IS the appropriate needle? Some of these needles were purchased for my mother's old White portable when I was into dressmaking, some for my 15 yr old Kenmore when I was into crafts like Teddy Bears and geese, plus a new package for my new Janome. Let's see if we can sort them out.

My favorite"how-to" book The Quilters Ultimate Visual Guide (edited by Ellen Pahl) Rodale Press 1997, has a page devoted to machine needles by Jeanette Muir that gave me new insights into choosing needles. For one thing, she says to toss those old worn needles, that "using old needles is not the place to scrimp", as they cause skipped stitches, snag fabric, and a bent needle can damage the bobbin case.

Take a look at a machine needle. The heavy end has a flat side and a round side. The flat side is designed to hold the needle securely in place. Check the manual for your machine to see the correct way to insert the needle.

Needles are made of different diameters of fine steel wire with the eye and the scarf stamped out. Scarf? On one side of the needle is a groove that allows thread to lie close to the needle's eye, and on the other side is the scarf! It is an indented slot that allows the bobbin hook to come close to the needle to pick up the thread. All of this fine machining of the needle leaves a smooth shaft and a sharp point. Jeanette Muir says the process requires 45 production steps and 100 different machines. All that to produce a needle!

We need to match the needle to the thread to be used and to the fabric. A heavy shaft needle will make too large a hole in the fabric and cause the bobbin thread to show. Mrs. Muir says size 75/11 needles with 50 thread are suitable for nearly every part of quiltmaking. Heavier thread (40 wt) can use 90/14 size needles.

The copyright of the article Sewing Machine Needles for Quilting in Quilting is owned by . Permission to republish Sewing Machine Needles for Quilting in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.