Needles for Home Sewing, Embroidery, Quilting, Serger, Blind Stitch, Felting, Cutting and Pleater Machines

"Absolutely best selection of sewing machine needles anywhere!!" Jean R, Facebook The hardest working 2” piece of steel in your sewing machine. German made Schmetz needle recommendations started with European manufacturers Viking, Pfaff, Bernina and Elna which included Schmetz needle packs in their European made machines, which are getting fewer every year.. Problem is, no serger, blindstitch or coverhem home machines have ever been made in Europe, only Asia! Asian manufacturers generally include Organ needles made in Japan with or in their machines. European brands instruction books may still recommend Schmetz, but their Asian contract manufacturing plants mostly include Organ needles in their machines. We have learned that machines sew better when we use Schmetz in European made machines, Organ for Asia made and Brazil for Singer made, which is also what they are timed with at those factories. You can safely substitute Schmetz for Organ, but you would pay twice as much for their specialty needles in sergers, blindhem and covenhem machines made in Asia.

How often should I replace my sewing needles? Machine needles should be replaced after a maximum sewing time of 8 hours. Replace needles more frequently when sewing synthetic fabric, appliqués or machine embroidery. This will avoid skipped stitches, fabric pulls and frayed threads. Machine needles are designed to break or shear off for the protection of the sewing machine hook mechanism, bobbin case, presser foot, or needle plate. If a needle bends or burrs, do not sew with it. When a machine needle breaks, it is a warning to check the following: ~The needle type and size is correct? ~Is the thread too thick or unsuitable for the needle size and application? ~Is the upper thread feeding freely? ~Are the thread tensions set too tight? ~Does the machine need cleaning? ~Is the correct presser foot fitted? ~Is the correct sewing technique being used? ~Is the fabric being pulled, pushed or dragged during sewing? ~Twin needles usually break due to excessive heat build up. Reduce speeds and avoid prolonged usage.

Thread breakage can be caused by resistance of thread going through the needle eye/size. A good rule of thumb is that thread should not take up more than 1/2 the space of or in the needle eye depending on thread texture. Thread a needle in your hand and let the needle slide down over the length of the thread. If there is too much resistance, it may show up as broken thread due to heat built up in higher speed sewing and/or just restriction and resistance in the needle eye which can cause thread to shred and break. There can be many more reasons for thread shredding and breaking, other than just matching correct needle eye size to thread size. Change the Needle!

Rhonda Pierce, Marketing Director and Sewing Educator for SCHMETZneedles.com discusses SCHMETZ Household Needles and how often the needle should be changed. She also discusses why the needle should be changed.....The needle is not a permanent machine part. Needles get dull from use. Needles are meant to be changed. Clues to Changing the Needle - Shredding or broken threads - - Skipped stitches - - Puckered or damaged fabrics - - Wiggly squiggly seams - - Popping, clicking or clunking sound -

What does needle size #90 mean? The number classification of a needle refers to the diameter of the blade (#90 means .9mm in diameter). The larger the number, the larger the needle's diameter of the blade. Larger needles also have a larger eye making them ideal for thicker threads. If a thread moves through an eye that is too small for the diameter of the thread, the thread may heat up, skip stitches, shred or break.