Today we talk needles for embroidery and more!

I can not count my day complete 'til needle, thread and fabric meet.

Needles come in all sorts of shapes and sizes and when buying needles it can be very confusing and daunting.

The three main types of needles used for embroidery and the eye in these are longer than household needles.  This makes life a lot easier when threading embroidery silks, especially if you are using more that one strand for thicker work.  Needles have number grades from fine (high numbers) to thick (low numbers) and is really depends on the embroidery you are doing.

Crewel Needles are mostly for embroidery stitches because they have a large eye  and a sharp point which makes them easy to work with.  A small needle will help you keep your work fine.

Chenille Needles are similar to crewel ones but they are longer and thicker with larger eyes for heavier thread or ribbon embroidery.

Milliners Needles apart from the obvious are great to use if you are doing the bullion knot stitch and these needles are long and fine with a smaller eye.


There are of course Tapestry Needles and these have blunt points and can be used on even weave fabric  and are very much like needles for cross stitch (which packets of these are sold under the heading cross stitch ... various sizes for the Aida size you are using)

Quilting needles you can find in packs as well and these are sharp and longer so that they can go through two layers of fabric plus wadding.  Depending on what wadding you are using is to what size needle you may require plus a very good thimble ( believe me).

Then of course there are applique needles which are very fine for obvious reasons and are for only one thread.  There a packs of them for you to buy in good haberdashery shops or on line ( along with these I do suggest you invest in applique pins too which are tiny and sheer and these are a must in my book.

I hope this has helped those of you that have messaged me about needles and what to use and when.  I am not an expert on this but this is what I have learnt over the last few years and am happy to share with you all to help in your own projects and designs.  The right tools to help enormously.

Well I am now off to get on with my Homespun Banner ... there was a change of plan at the eleventh hour over what fabric I would use for it and so I was slightly put behind.  It is worth it though as I want it to be right and also I want to do a pinny as well ( another story for another day)

Have a wonderful day and lets hope Summer returns soon ... I am missing the lovely weather and stitching in the garden!

Happy Stitching!