what sort of needles do you use?

[Margo]

I'm not new to hand embroidery but...it's been a very long time since I've done much of it.  My grandmother taught me and we used whatever needle in her collection of old needles to work with we could thread.   Soooo, my question is what sort of needles do you use, and also why?  When I quilt I usually use a size 12 from my stash of Piecemakers, Clover, or Roxanne, just for a point of reference.  I'd like something that glides in and out of whatever project I'm working on.

Thanks.

[Cathy Snider]

Wnen doing hand embroidery I use embroidery needles, usually sz 9. I prefer roxanne or Bohin
I also have an assortment of milliner needles for bouillons and what I have now are Bohin.
I look to see that they are NOT made in China. I have some made in china and what used to be high quality are not anymore.

[Sylvia Showers]

 I use ( Scarlet Today,) her needles are by far the best, made in England for embroidery, are just perfect, do not snag just glides , I have been buying these for years now .

You should try them

[Donna Abrams]

Where do you find Scarlet Today needles?  I have never heard of them.  I do know most things come from China and I prefer to buy such things for sewing from here or England. 

[Nicola Thomson]

Thats funny cos I use the right sized needle for the piece, no idea what  actual official size.Needlepoints I use a tapestry needle, sewing up a BIG tapestry needle ha ha

Like you I learnt using whatever needle my mother had available

[Sylvia Showers]

Just put Scarlet Today in Google

Donna Abrams said:

Where do you find Scarlet Today needles?  I have never heard of them.  I do know most things come from China and I prefer to buy such things for sewing from here or England. 

[Margo]

You girls are fabulous!  I'm still stitching but each stitch makes me say "What could be a better experience?"   I also now appreciate why I was in such high demand to thread needles as a child.  Yep I still can thread them but as them night wears on I do so much better with my reading glasses as opposed to the cool looking bifocals.

By the way I'm still a newbie on this site, no posts, so hi ya'll, and thanks for sharing your expertise, and Sharon thanks for the site.  I'm going to refresh my stitching by starting at the beginning with your TAST.  Having looked at it a bit it will not only be a refresher but I'm thrilled to learn some new stitches as well.

[Margo]

So...this is a serendipitous moment.  I went to Scarlet Today to order some needles, and McCrady Enterprises tweaked me but I thought, no way.  So after loading my cart with needles I went to the history of the business, and low and behold...my first teacher was the grandmother, but my second teacher was Kathleen McCrady.  After taking what was basically a master class of hand piecing, applique and quilting with her...never saw the need for anyone else's quilting classes.  I've only had one other teacher in my life who made that much impact on how I viewed the world.  My elementary school English teacher, who I still quote, (much as my kids hated it, they now quote her too, as in well...Mary Lou said).  Here's wishing you all such a teacher in your future if you didn't have one in the past.  Actually here's to all of our future teachers being that splendiferous!  Thanks girls for sending me to that shop.  It has so made my night, and if Kathleen had anything to do with the choices I know the needles will meet my every dream!

[Maneki]

I used to use whatever I found rummaging through mom's sewing needle box as a kid. Nowadays I use whatever suits my need that I find in my John James Silk Ribbon Embroidery Needle Collection (25 needles, surely there's one for whatever I want to do) and when needed I use the little mix of needles for leather/suede embroidery from Panduro. Probably don't do enough needlework to have to worry much about quality and don't have a problem with chinese needles (so far).

It's my beading needle collection that's interesting. Again, mostly JJ though I want to try Tulip too. I've got several sizes of longs (10, 13, 15), size 10 sharps, curved needles, size 10 ball-point beading needles and a couple of Miyuki needles. All neatly bundled together as I got tired of having to go through all the loose packages and stringed them all up in the hole at the top of the package, knotting them together in a logical order (longs that I use the most first, followed by sharps, ball-point and curved). 

[Ann Johnson]

My favourites are embroidery needles, Milwards from England, but only if they say they are made in England, not just "English standard needles".  Those are mostly made in China and unfortunately they often have burrs in the eye which ruins the thread and wastes money.  My favourite size is embroiderers' 10 as I do mostly single strand surface embroidery.  John James needles are excellent, too, as long as they say they are made in England. 

Ideally, your needle should be about the same diameter as the thread you use.  Any smaller and it drags through the fabric making the embroidery less fun and harder work, and any larger and it makes holes that don't usually disappear.

[Margo]

Thanks Maneki and Ann.  I have purchased some embroidery needles.  The jury is still out on some of them.  It seems some of the sharps are one sidedly sharp, and that doesn't seem right at all.  So I'll keep looking, and see if I can find some of the John James made in England needles.

[Mattie]

Well I'm fairly new to embroidery and I wasn't sure about the needles myself so I just went out and bought a little magnetic needle tin case thing and filled it with a bunch of embroidery and crewel needles. I must have at least 20 or so all in varied sizes, I think I even have a tapestry needle in there, lol. I don't know what size is which I just fish around in there till I find the right needle for the job, one that the thread fits in well enough and goes through the fabric with ease.

[Marie]

I prefer straw/milliners needles, I just find them easiest to work with.  The eye is the same diameter as the shaft, making it MUCH easier to create certain stitches (especially bullions) and they're longer than embroidery or crewel needles.  I even use them for quilting - I can't get the hang of short needles, just personal preference.

I need to find a Canadian supplier of Bohin needles.  I can only find John James and Piecemakers and while they're not 'bad' quality they're not as good as they used to be.  They're not as strong and occasionally have burrs.