Sewing Basics 1–choosing the right needle

When I taught parent-child classes, I was surprised to learn that a lot of adults don’t know how to sew. It was one of my missions to teach this basic skill because it’s both fun and useful. So this is the first in a series of posts on some basic sewing skills. Just like any undertaking, having the right tools is key to having a pleasant and productive experience. Unlike many other DIY areas, hand sewing tools are not very expensive. All you need are a needle, thread, fabric and a good pair of scissors. Of course, it can be expensive if you want it to be, but needles are generally not too costly.

All needles are not alike

You may think like I did, that needles are needles. I spent many unpleasant hours trying to force a blunt-ended darning needle through pieces of felt. This way of sewing was doable, sort of, but slow and hard and frustrating.

What are the different kinds of needles?

Needles only have a few variables–

• the ends can be pointy or blunt
• the eye, where the thread goes through, comes in different sizes and shapes
• the needles come in different lengths
• and thicknesses

Here is a pdf that shows some of the main kind of needles for hand sewing fabric. But I will tell you the main things that you need to know.

Here are the kinds of needles you’ll need for basic hand sewing

Use an embroidery/crewel needle for sewing on felt with embroidery floss–as for this May Crown. It’s good because it has a large eye and a pointy end.

Use a darning needle for sewing in the ends for knitting or crochet projects–although you can use an embroidery needle as well.   I’ve never tried these, but they look pretty cool:

The darning needle has a large eye and blunt end. You can find ones made of metal, plastic, bone, or my favorite–wood.

 

For sewing with thread, like sewing on a button, use a sharp needle (that’s the name of the kind of needle). These have small eyes and pointy ends. They are harder to thread than the ones with the bigger eyes, but they will work better for this kind of sewing. And you can always use a needle threader–but more on that later.

Happy sewing!

These needle links are affiliate links–if you buy them I will get a small amount of money and it won’t cost you anything.

Thanks for stopping by.

xoxo