Sewing Machine Needle Guide for Quilters

Home , Machine quilting, Sewing machine needle

A multi-purpose needle especially good for the Type Universal casual sewer who hems a skirt one day and re- pairing a tee shirt the next. Do not use on high Point Slightly rounded thread count fabrics or for stitching through many layers. In a bind, go ahead and piece or 60/8, 65/9, 70/10, 75/11, quilt with this one, but there are better choices. Sizes 80/12, 90/14, 100/16, 110/18, 120/19

Schmetz Color Code None

Type Jeans/Denim A strong, sharp needle with a reinforced blade. This needle is designed for use on tightly woven fabrics. Quilters also like it for high Point Slim and acute thread count fabrics like batiks. 70/10, 80/12, 90/14, 100/16, Sizes 110/18

Schmetz Color Code Blue

Designed for use with rayon and other specialty Type Embroidery threads. It has a special scarf, a long smooth groove and large eye which protects fragile Small ball point prevents damage threads like metallics from excess friction and Point when stitching through embroi- dered areas shredding.

Sizes 75/11, 80/12, 90/14

Schmetz Color Code Red

Type Quilting Engineered for use in both piecing and machine quilting. The shaft is thin and tapered to pass Point Slim, acute, slightly rounded through many layers of fabric smoothly. The de- sign keeps stitches nice and even and helps Sizes 75/11, 80/12, 90/14 eliminate skipped stitches.

Schmetz Color Code Green

Type Microtex Sharp A slim needle with a thin shaft. Produces a very small hole and less puckering. The extremely sharp point makes for nice straight stitches. It is Point Very slim and acute designed for microfibers which makes it perfect for use on batiks, pima cottons, cotton sateens. 60/8, 65/9, 70/10, 80/12, Use this needle for quilting with 100wt silk. Start Sizes 90/14 with a 75/11 and work down to a 60/8. Breaking needles? Move up a size. This is a thin needle, because the point is so fine (which makes it frag- Schmetz Color Code Purple ile), change this needle more often. Type Topstitching Designed with a very long (2mm) eye and large groove for use with heavy topstitching thread. The eye is the Point Sharp, extra pointy same size in all topstitching needles. Use with decorative machine quilting threads that need some babying like Sizes 80/12, 90/14, 100/16 metallics. This needle comes in large sizes. Larger needles leaves larger holes. Match your needle to your cho- Schmetz Color Code None sen thread.

Type Metallic It has a very large (2mm) eye that is polished and Teflon coated to help thread flow smoothly through to prevent Point Universal point breakage. The eye is the same size for all metallic needles. Sizes 80/12, 90/14, 100/16 The groove down the front is deep to protect delicate Schmetz Color Code None threads from shredding. The needle scarf is larger and designed to prevent skipped stitches. The two most important things to remember about sewing Needle Anatomy machine needle sizes are:

1. Choose the needle eye based on the thread you use. The thread should pass through the needle eye with the minimum amount of friction.

2. Choose a needle size just large enough to get the job done. A needle that's too big leaves unsightly holes.

Needles range is size from very fine 60\8 to a heavy duty needle 120/19. Most needles use the two number measuring system. The higher number relates to the metric system used in foreign counties. It defines the needle shaft diameter in fractions of a millimeter. The lower number relates to the system in the U.S and is used to indicate needle shaft diameter. The scarf of the needle

is on the backside just above the eye.

Keep Track of All Those Needles

Sometimes during a quilt project, you'll switch to a different thread and need to use a different needle. Use this handy trick to keep these "used but still good" needles separated from the brand spanking new ones still in the package. Take a good old tomato pin cushion. With a Sharpie pen, write in each section the size and type of the various sewing machine needles that you frequently use. Time to change your needle? Remove the "used but still good" needle from your machine and insert it into its proper place in the pin cushion. When you remove a needle from the pin cushion to use in your sewing machine, put a decorative pin in its place. That way with just a look, you'll be able to tell which needle is in your machine.