We all know that when it comes to sewing, needles by far are the most important tool of all. There are different types of needles to accomplish different purposes. In this article, I will talk about all the hand sewing needles and how to choose the right one for your project.
1) Milliner Needle / Sharps
These needles are the thinnest among all sewing needles. They have a small round eye and a long shaft. These needles come in various sizes from 1 to 12 with 1 being the largest needle. These needles are perfect for general sewing purpose. They are used for making various stitches that require wrapping the thread around the needle, like French knot, bullion stitch, drizzle stitch and more.
2) Crewel Needle
Next is crewel needles, they are exactly the same as the sharps. However, they have a long oval-shaped eye. They come in various sizes ranging from size 1 to size 12. For beginners, this pack of colorful eye crewels would be perfect.
They are used for doing surface embroidery with beads, sequins, French wire, and other embellishments. The sharp tip makes it easy to pierce through tightly woven fabric. The medium-long eye makes it easy to use decorative threads.
3) Chenille
This needle has a really long eye which bulges out from the shaft. This needle has a thick shaft however, the tip is very sharp. As it has a long eye, thick threads can easily pass through it. You can use this needle for embroidery work where the thread is thicker (like wool). It is mainly used for crewel embroidery.
4) Tapestry Needle
This needle has a long eye and a blunt tip which makes it easy to work with even weave and loosely woven fabric like needlepoint and Aida. They are perfect for doing cross stitching and other needlepoint embroidery work.
5) Betweens / Quilting Needles
Betweens Quilting Needles are short needles that are specially made for making even stitches. They have a sharp point which enables them to pass through close weaved fabrics. Their strength enables intricate work to be carried out on fine material.
6) Darners
Darners are just as crewels but they have a long shaft. They are used for darning the fabric with wool or cotton yarns.
7) Easy Threading Needle
This needle has a slot which is very easy to thread. The thread is pressed through the slot and it gets inside the slot where it remains securely into place.
8) Curved Needle
These speciality needles have a medium-long eye. They are mainly used for giving finishing touches as it can pass through areas where a straight needle cannot pass. They are used for sewing upholstery and their other interesting use is hair weaving.
So, these were some sewing needles and their various purposes. Please let me know in the comment which needle you use the most and are there any other type of needle that you want to know about.
