Time to ditch my grandmother's needles

[Ploshkin]

I can't remember when I last bought a sewing needle.  I acquired my grandmother's sewing box many years before she died and she has been gone for 25 years.  In it was an elastoplast tin containing hundreds of needles.  I'm now finding it difficult to find a suitable sized needle from the tin especially one with an eye that I can actually see to thread.  Quite a few have a bit of rust on them.  A large number of the remaining needles are just 1 1/8" or 1 3/8" long with eyes almost invisible to the naked eye.  I can only think they were used with silk thread for mending stockings.

So I think the time has come to buy some needles but I don't really know what sizes to get.  I don't do embroidery.  I would mainly use them for basting and hand finishing in dressmaking / tailoring and for stitching quilt bindings.  What would people say are the most useful sizes?

[DementedFairy]

Buy a mixed pack of Clover Black Gold [they're amazing] and a needle threader, like this Clover desktop.  I can't see to thread needles any more, and find the old fashioned metal loops ones nearly as hard to use.  This works wonders.

[Ploshkin]

Ooh, thank you for that.  I always used thread my grandmother's needles for her and now I'm the same age as she was then!  I'll swallow my pride and get one of those.

[UttaRetch]

I have a little book of Merchant & Mills needles.

[DementedFairy]

Ooh, thank you for that.  I always used thread my grandmother's needles for her and now I'm the same age as she was then!  I'll swallow my pride and get one of those.

I can't cope without mine- I went into a panic when the last one broke!  I tend to thread ten or more needles at a time when I'm doing a big job [like the wedding dress or some such]

I have a little hand held device for the machine too- I can thread it without my glasses!

[UttaRetch]

Fluffy thread and splitting are my main problems.  I can still see well enough to thread needles one good eye notwithstanding, but I do find it easier to remove the needle from the bar of the sewing machine.

[DementedFairy]

Fluffy thread and splitting are my main problems.  I can still see well enough to thread needles one good eye notwithstanding, but I do find it easier to remove the needle from the bar of the sewing machine.

Just get one of these beauties- you can thread by feel
machine needle threader


They're also brilliant for holding the machine needle in the right orientation for insertion

[Roger]

I did a double take on that DF... I have to say i thought it was several things quite different!

(I'm a grandmother's needles user too... I inherited her extensive collection of craft needles and added my own)

[arrow]

Go to a capable optician, get a vision test for reading glasses. Glasses and good light are a must for sewing, if you need it don't hesitate. Some find needles with a gold eye easier to thread, for the smallest needle eyes I find it easier too. I always cut the end of the thread with sharp scissors, I don't even make an attempt with out doing it. I guess you don't mean to literally ditch grandmother's needles, they are probably more than good enough, just add a few of the sizes you miss. The large eye needles are not bad for top stitch thread or waxed thread for leather.

[BrendaP]

When I was a child there were always lots of needles and other stuff which had belonged to Grandma's eldest sister, who had been a professional dressmaker, but who died young in 1924.

I still have one packet of Aunt Nel's needles (sharps and a few months ago I used one of them.  There is a teeny bit of rust where it was against the paper packaging, but even after smoothing that off the needle wasn't as good as a modern needle.  I agree with DF that Clover black gold are the best, but they do only come in the smaller sizes.

[sewingj]

Somewhere for you needle-lovers to visit

http://www.forgemill.org.uk/forgemill.htm