Probably no other sewing tool is more mysterious than the humble sewing machine needle. What size? What brand? Why type? When should I replace? Why should I replace it when it seems fine? So many questions about something so small, but of such importance to any type of sewing.
A sewing machine needle moves in and out of the fabric thousands of times in even the smallest sewing project, the larger the project and the more sewing involved, that number multiples. While the sewing machine needle is made from the finest of steel, it is not indestructible and it is a sacrificial component, it is meant to wear out, it is mean to be weaker than the pins it may strike or the presser foot or needle plate it may collide with. The needle eye, believe it or not, will erode due to the thread passing through it, the tip will dull, that poor sewing machine needle sees A LOT of abuse and it needs to be replaced regularly.
So what is “regularly”? In general, this means about every 6-8 hours of actual machine running time. But consider the entire picture, if you are sewing on light-weight fabric versus heavy denim. Do you sew over pins (if you do, you NEED TO STOP! It’s damaging the needle, the pins, the presser foot, the feed dog, the hook…and you are asking for a broken needle in the eye!) or do you sew properly and remove pins? Is the project large or small? For garment sewers, change the needle after every complex garment, the needle may be fine to use for two or three simpler garments. Quilting an entire king size quilt? Use a new needle for one quilt and discard it. We often think of changing the needle only when it breaks or the thread breaks, but when threads shred, stitches skip, seam lines become snagged, these are subtle ways the needle is telling you that it needs to be replaced. A needle costs less than a dollar to replace, isn’t a dollar worth it for the expensive fabric you are sewing with it, for the even more expensive sewing machine you are wanting to not damage with a bad needle and for your sewing sanity? Replace the needle on a regular basis and so many sewing frustrations just will not happen to you.
Want more information on sewing machine needles? SCHMETZ, the manufacture of the world’s finest sewing machine needles has a wonderful PDF for you to download and read here: https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0722/0287/9028/files/D_81_ABC_Pocket_Guide.pdf?v=1763073245
