Meg’s Thread and Needle Guide
A question I hear quite frequently is "How do I know what type and size of machine needle to use?" In a nutshell, here is the basic idea:
Choose the needle TYPE according to the job you are doing, i.e., use a metallic needle for metallic thread, a quilting needle for quilting through 3 layers, a sharp Microtex or Jeans needle for piecing and an Embroidery needle when using fragile threads, especially those made from extruded fibres such as rayon and viscose. Then, choose the needle SIZE according to the weight (thickness) of the top thread you are using. If using a very fine thread (i.e., monofilament, Aurifil 50, YLI Soft Touch) then use a size 70 needle. Use a size 75 or 80 needle for medium weight threads such as Aurifil 40, YLI Machine Quilting, King Tut, etc... Use a size 90 needle for heavier weight threads such as Rayon 40, Aurifil 28, etc... Use a size 100 needle or even a 110 for Jeanstitch and other 20-30 weight threads.
Why? There is a groove running down the front of every machine needle. The thread nestles into this groove which essentially shields the thread from friction as it passes in and out of the fabric during the formation of the stitches. If the machine needle is too small, the thread will not nestle into the groove and will suffer too much friction, increasing the probability of both snapped threads and skipped stitches. Regardless of what needle TYPE you are using, you must choose a needle SIZE which has a sufficient groove for the thread you are running through it.
Below is a basic guideline to successful thread and needle combinations for patchwork and quilting tasks:
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Machine Appliqué
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General Guide: Use invisible thread for IMA, or decorative threads for folk or more noticeable effect. Soft Touch or Masterpiece work well in the bobbin.
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Recommended Threads
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Suitable Needles
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YLI Monofilament, smoke or clear
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Microtex 60 or 70
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Any decorative thread, variegated or plain, thickness to suit
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Embroidery or Topstitch, sizes 75-90
(size 100 for thick threads)
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Hand Appliqué
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General Guide: Use silk or light weight cotton for ‘invisible’ effect, where thread sinks into fabric. Use any heavier decorative threads for buttonhole and decorative appliqué stitches, but don’t use any that shred easily.
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Recommended Threads
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Suitable Needles
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YLI silk in neutral colour to ‘sink’ into fabric
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Hand Sharps, size 10 or 11
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YLI Soft Touch, colour to match background
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Hand Sharp, size 10
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Superior Masterpiece, colour as background
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Hand Sharp, size 10
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Hand Quilting
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General Guide: Almost all threads can be used for hand quilting. Not all threads can be used in a machine, as some hand quilting threads are waxed - which is why some brands are labelled ‘Machine Quilting’. But be aware that threads labelled ‘machine quilting’ threads are especially smooth and good quality cotton, so are also ideal for hand quilting. For hand quilting, choose medium to heavy weight threads so that the stitching shows. Choose a shade which is a bit darker than the background fabric.
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Recommended Threads
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Suitable Needles
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Aurifil 28 – a beautiful smooth thread that behaves well and has a good finish and body
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Betweens 9-10, or Sharps 10
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Aurifil 40 – ditto, but slightly lighter weight
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Betweens 8-11
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YLI Machine Quilting – good standard weight, smooth cotton, excellent for hand quilting
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Betweens 8-11
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King Tut – low lint, smooth cotton, excellent results
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Betweens 8-11
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Coats Dual Duty – cotton covered polyester
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Betweens 8-11, or Sharps 10
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Machine Quilting
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General Guide: All of our threads can be used for machine quilting. For best results, cottons should be good quality and long staple. Rayons and metallics are suitable, as are silk, and threads of varying weights. Match the needle TYPE to the work you are doing; match the needle SIZE to the top thread. Use YLI Soft Touch or Superior Threads Masterpiece as good general purpose bobbin threads to balance almost any of our machine quilting threads.
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Recommended Threads
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Suitable Needles
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YLI Machine Quilting
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Quilting 75
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King Tut
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Quilting 75
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Aurifil 40
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Quilting 75 (90 on some machines)
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Aurifil 28
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Embroidery 90
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Valdani Plain 50
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Embroidery 90
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YLI Superfine Metallic
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Metallic 80 or Topstitch 90
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Superior Metallic
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Topstitch 90
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YLI Soft Touch (for intricate, heirloom MQ)
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Microtex 70
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Masterpiece (for intricate, heirloom MQ)
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Microtex 70
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YLI McKenna Ryan
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Quilting 90
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YLI Monofilament
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Microtex 60,70
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Piecing
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General Guide: a fine, good quality, light-weight long staple cotton used with a size 70 sharp needle is best.
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Recommended Threads
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Suitable Needles
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YLI Soft Touch, 60 weight
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Microtex 70, Jeans 70
Universal 80
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Superior Masterpiece, 50 weight
Aurifil, 50 weight
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Below is the text from Meg Leach's class in which she explains all about domestic machine needles:
Correct needle selection is one of my big bug-bears when I’m teaching or advising customers. It always amazes me that people can spend £100’s or even £1000’s on a sewing machine but then overlook the fact that the needle really is the business end of the whole stitch process. Give me a very basic machine with a perfect needle any day over an expensive machine with a blunt old Universal needle in it. You would be absolutely amazed how many people I come across who have very expensive sewing machines, which are nothing more than elaborate motors driving a very blunt or totally inappropriate needle up and down!
Domestic machine needles, for the purposes of this conversation, fall into two broad groups: ball points and sharps. Ball points are used for stretch and knit fabrics and are designed so that the needle separates the fibres as it plunges through the fabric. Ignore all of those. Sharps are what we use in patchwork and quilting with woven fabrics, usually cotton. These pierce the fibres as the needle penetrates through the fabric. Sitting in the middle of these two groups is the ‘Universal’ needle. It’s neither a true ballpoint nor a true sharp, it’s not quite the right needle for any one particular task. If you have any Universals, save them for mending and use your sharps for patchwork and quilting.
When selecting your needle, you need to choose a needle TYPE and a needle SIZE. Choose your needle TYPE according to what you’re planning to do with it – piece, quilt, work with fragile threads, work with metallic thread, embroider, etc... Choose your needle SIZE to match the size of the thread you are going to put through that needle. The thread should lay nicely into the groove on the front of the needle shaft. This groove sheathes the thread as it penetrates in and out of your work; if your needle size is too small or too large, you may experience skipped stitches or thread breakage.
Common TYPES of needles (sharps) used in patchwork and quilting:
1. Jeans: Often used for piecing, usually in a size 70 or 80, depending on size of thread being used. The jeans needle has a strong shaft and a very sharp point. No, it isn’t only for sewing denim, it’s only the large size (110 or bigger) Jeans needles that are used for denim, usually with quite thick thread. The size 70 is ideal for thin threads such as Aurifil 50, YLI Soft Touch, Superior Masterpiece, etc... Also recommended for use with monofilament threads for appliqué. Using a small needle such as a Jeans 70 with thin thread when piecing reduces the effect of thread bulk taken up in the patchwork seam allowances and therefore increases accuracy.
2. Microtex: Almost identical to a Jeans in the smaller sizes. Hard to differentiate between the two, so if your LQS is out of stock of Jeans, buy Microtex, and vice versa. A Microtex 70 is commonly used with thin piecing threads such as those mentioned above for the Jeans 70. Size up to a Microtex 80 if your piecing thread is a little thicker, so that the thread nestles into the groove. Microtex needles are perfect for ‘micro fibres’ and densely woven poplins and silks. The design of the needle helps the holes to heal so that your silk doesn’t look like it’s been hole-punched after stitching a line. A Microtex is probably the best choice if you’re stitching through experimental fibres such as thin plastic or Lamfix. One of the advantages of the Microtex needle is that it comes in a size 60 – very good for monofilaments, size 100 polyesters and other whisper thin threads. Useful for machine appliqué – choose the size to match the thickness of your appliqué thread.
3. Quilting: does what it says on the tin. These needles are designed to aide with the balance of tension when stitching through the layers of the quilt sandwich. Often, if your tension is awry and your stitches are not locking out of sight inside the wadding when you are machine quilting, switching to a Quilting needle can solve the problem. These are generally used in size 75 and size 90, which fit most commonly used machine quilting threads. Use the 75 with medium thickness threads; move up to the 90 for thicker quilting threads. If the 90 is still too small for your thread, you may need to try a Topstitch or Embroidery 100. I have not seen Quilting 100’s on the market, but someone correct me please if you’ve seen them somewhere. If you are working heirloom style machine quilting with very thin threads, then you may need to move to a Microtex needle as the smallest Quilting needle may be too large. But the quilting needle is excellent for quilting with all but the very thickest and very thinnest of threads.
4. Topstitch: Topstitch needles have a nice big round eye and of course sharp points. They are (obviously) quite good for topstitch purposes, but can also be used for quilting with thicker threads, as one of the advantages of Topstitch needles is that they come in big sizes, i.e., Topstitch 100. A useful needle for decorative surface embellishment when using thicker threads. One particular thread manufacturer recommends Topstitch 90 needles for all of their quilting threads. I don’t quite know why they say this, because I’ve tested this and in my own tests with this thread, the quilting needle comes out tops every time with this thread, so there is no reason to pay the extra for Topstitch needles for that particular thread brand. In all honesty the topstitch needle is not one that I use very often, but it is so widely touted by this one manufacturer, that I mention it here because most people will come across advice at some stage to use one.
5. Metallic: qualitybrands of metallic needles are worth their price. They have very round eyes (rather than tear-drop shaped) and also have Teflon or other coating inside the eye. Both the shape of the eye and the coating help to reduce friction on the metallic outer layer of the thread, which helps to reduce thread breakage. On the whole, metallic threads have a core (the best brands use a rayon core) which is sheathed by the metallic outer layer. When the outer metallic element of the thread is nicked or split, it ruches up above your needle, and you end up sewing with just the thread core and a big ball of metallic sheathing sliding up the thread until everything snaps. We’ve all experienced this, I’m sure. Using a metallic needle which is the correct size can reduce the frequency of this happening. The most common size of metallic needle is the 80, but 90’s come in very useful too. Other sizes are available – match the needle size to your thread. Make sure the thread fits into the protective groove on the front of the needle shaft. If it doesn’t slot into the groove, your needle is too small and the thread will experience a great deal of friction from the fabric fibres.
6. Embroidery: a really useful needle to keep on hand. The embroidery needle is designed for more fragile threads such as viscose and rayon varieties. However, it’s really useful for any thread that is turning out to be a bit pesky. The embroidery needle has a deeper groove along its shaft than other needles do and it also has an enlarged scarf (the notch at the back of the needle, causing the loop for stitch formation). I won’t go into detail here, but both of these features help to protect the thread from breakage. The embroidery needle is my ‘go to’ needle, my ‘when all else fails’ needle. Definitely use the embroidery needle for fragile decorative threads, but also give it a try when more ordinary threads keep breaking. Also a good backup if you are out of metallic needles. The most common sizes of embroidery needle are 80 and 90.
There is a lot more to say about this and I have oversimplified a bit here, but the above is a good thumbnail start to choosing your needles. Remember – choose your needle TYPE according to your materials and what you are going to be stitching; choose your needle SIZE according to the thread size that you intend to run through that needle. And always use a sharp needle; don’t struggle on with a blunt needle. Using the right tool for the job really does make sewing more enjoyable. When you find a good combination of thread & needle, it’s a good idea to write the needle type and size on the top of your thread spool.
A note for Janome users: The blue tip Janome needle is an Embroidery needle. The red tip Janome needle is a metallic needle. If you use only Janome branded needles for machine quilting, then generally speaking, the blue tip works quite well for machine quilting.
Titanium needles: These are widely touted at the moment and are said to last longer than ordinary needles. Not if you hit a pin! My own personal preference is for standard, good quality needles, such as Schmetz, which are relatively inexpensive to replace if broken. Some people prefer the titaniums. This is a matter of personal choice and you just need to try them yourself to see if they are worth the extra expenditure to you. I am not going to stick my neck out and advise one way or the other.
Other needles: There are of course other needles available. Wing tips, leathers, twins, triples, lana, etc... But the six above are the basic ones to keep in your toolbox for patchwork and quilting. Jeans and Microtex are virtually identical, but I have included them both in the list because they are available in different size ranges. Between the two, you can get any size.
