Important Techniques for Sewing Needle Selection
Noor Ahmed Raaz
Faculty Member, Dept. of Textile Engineering,
Atish Dipankar University of Science & Technology
Email: raju.uttara105@gmail.com
What is Sewing Needle?
Needle is the key element for sewing operation both for hand sewing and machine sewing. A sewing machine needle and a hand sewing needle is not same at all. The sewing machine needle has the eye close to the tip whereas a hand sewing needle has the eye at the butt end of the needle. The hand sewing needle is designed for making loop stitches or continuous stitches and passes completely through the fabric on every stitch. Please see below image for clear conception about two types sewing needle.
The sewing machine needle is designed for making the lockstitch or chainstitch and does not travel completely through the fabric, only about half of the needle penetrates the fabric. The sewing machine needle has a shank for attaching it to the sewing machine, the hand sewing needle does not have a shank. Most sewing machine needles also have a flat area called a scarf.
Sewing Machine Needle Selection:
Perfect needle selection is a very important task for sewing master or tailor. Because the correct size and type of sewing machine needle is essential to the production of quality garments. Wrong needle selection may occur broken or shredded threads, skipped stitches, fabric puckering, seam puckering, uneven seams, or even permanently damage fabrics. There are different sizes and types of needles for different types of fabric. Fabric type and fabric weight are also important when choosing sewing machine needles. Thread type and size are also important components to choosing the right sewing machine needle. Perfect combination of fabric, needle and sewing thread can give fault free sewing. So, be careful during needle selection for the sewing operation.
How to Choose Sewing Machine Needles
Before sewing fabric some points should keep in mind. Either fault free product is not possible to get. Because it is not easy task which we normally think.
1. The lighter the fabric the smaller the needle size.
2. The heavier the fabric the larger the needle size.
3. When using a fine, delicate thread, be sure to use a smaller needle size.
4. If the needle is finer than sewing thread then the thread cannot move easily through the needle.
5. The thread is finer than the needle then it may cause slipped stitch at the needle. The needle will fail to create perfect size of loops.
6. If sewing thread is courser than needle then it will generate more friction. This will generate heat. For this reason, thread breakage will be increased and it will hamper the production rate.
7. If the needle is finer than required fabric then sewing needle will deflect and become curve with the action of throat plate. It is unexpected to a production officer.
Founder & Editor of Textile Learner. He is a Textile Consultant, Blogger & Entrepreneur. Mr. Kiron is working as a textile consultant in several local and international companies. He is also a contributor of Wikipedia.
