A beginner’s guide to sewing machine Needles

One of the most confusing things that I have come across when I started sewing are needle types & their uses. When you shop it looks pretty straight forward, but every needle has much more uses than you might think and what fabric to use with them is not always something easy to learn! So here is a little comfy guide I made for myself as I am no expert as you know and hope it is useful for other beginners.

• • Universal Needle: Can be used on almost all natural fabrics and synthetic ones that are not too elastic or tough. It has a standard needle point, nothing special. The Gauge works as follows:
    60/8 – 70/10 : Organdie, Chiffon, georgette
    70/10 : Batiste, artificial silk
    70/10 – 80/12 : Linen, poplin
    80/12 – 90/14: Linen, Cambric, Velvet
    90/14 – Heavy Cotton, Coat Fabrics, Heavy Linen

• • Stretch Needle: It can be used on all fabrics that are highly elastic (my personal nightmare hahahah), the ones with two way stretch, it is a slightly rounded needle. The Gauge works as follows:
    75/11: Lycra, Spandex
    90/14: Spandex, Oilcloth, plastic foil

• • Jersey Needle: This works well on all knitted fabrics, it is a ballpoint needle, it works on Jersey, Gauges are 70/10 – 100/16

• • Quilting Needle: This is the needle you will use to sew through multiple layers, it has a slim point, and is quite versatile, Gauge 75/11 – 90/14

• • Jeans Needle: Everyone has a favourite needle, this most be mine, I do not know why I like it so much but I do.
    It has a slim strong and sharp point, and can be used on Jeans, tough fabrics and even artificial leather!
    – 90/14 – 100/16 : artificial leather, canvas
    – 90/14 – 110/18 : Denim, Twill
    – 100/16 – 110/18 : Heavyweight Fabric for Heavy duty cloths

• • Topstitching Needle: It has a longer eye to accomodate thicker threads you might want to use to make your topstitching beautiful Gauge is 70/100

I hope I covered most of them decently, I made a mess more than once by choosing the wrong needle, things might come out anyway, but often not very well, and if you are a beginner like myself, you get really scared if the needle breaks!