Schmetz Sewing Machine Needles

SCHMETZ is internationally known as the finest sewing machine needle manufacturer in the world. Sewers everywhere count on the quality of their products. Your choice of high quality sewing machine needles can result in the same high quality of maintaining smooth, even stitches in your work. SCHMETZ makes a variety of needles created especially to do particular sewing jobs very well. What many sewers don’t know is how to choose the correct type and size of needle for the work that they are doing. It is crucial to choose the correct needle to complement your thread choice and the kind of sewing work that you are doing.

Most sewers don’t have any idea how to choose the correct sewing machine needle for their specific thread and project. Most just continue to use the needle that came in their machine until it breaks. Sewing machine needles are not indestructible . . . they will not last forever. The points get dull from repeated use and the shaft may get bent from hitting pins in the fabric. A general rule of thumb is to replace the needle after eight (8) hours of use and at the beginning of each project. Each time you buy thread or fabric you should be asking yourself what kind of needle will work best with the project you have in mind. Here’s what you need to know.

Choose your needle size based on the type and weight of thread that is being used as well as the fabric that is being sewn. The goal is to have the needle slide easily through the fabric without damaging the fibers or creating too large of a hole, and to carry the thread smoothly without damaging it when sewing.

Each package of SCHMETZ needles has European and U.S. size equivalents written at the very bottom of the front of the plastic case. Typically they range from 8/60 (the finest) to 20/120 (the largest). This number, indicating the size, will help determine the suitability of the needles to the fabric, thread size and the kind of sewing being done. In general, the finer the thread and the finer the fabric that is being sewn, the finer the needle should be.

Each package has the name of the needle it contains. These names can help you choose the right type of needle for the work you are about to do (i.e., "Universal," "Quilting," "Sharp," "Metallic," "Topstitch," "Embroidery," etc.). Each type of needle is made for a particular job and should be chosen according to the type of fabric and thread used.

Cheaper carded needles do exist in the market and many of them would like you to believe that they are just as good as SCHMETZ Needles. No other needle manufacturer can match the amount of detail and quality of material that goes into each needle before it leaves the SCHMETZ factory. Remember . . . not all needles are created equal. Insist on high quality SCHMETZ Needles for all of your sewing projects!

Universal Needle

A general purpose needle that can be used on knit or woven fabrics. A casual sewer who might repair a pair of jeans today, a child’s t-shirt tomorrow, and some lingerie next month will probably use this needle most often. It will do a number of tasks sufficiently. It has a long scarf that is great for zigzag stitching and it does not damage knits. It is sharp enough to go through a lot of fabrics but it does have a slight ball point which does not make it ideal for going through many layers or high thread count fabrics. This needle comes in a wide range of sizes from size 60 to size 120.