Well I ended up ordering a couple of selections of Bohin needles. Used one of their embroidery needles to run some basting thread along some pleat lines on a rather robust medium weight cotton hemp blend and they've done a fine job of it sharp and smooth enough to run through the fabric with a big enough eye to not need a threader.
As for scissors, I treated myself to some lightweight blacks from William Whitely, a few months back, and they are lovely to use.