Hand sewing needles are all designed with unique characteristics that make each type more suitable for one type of sewing, but although needles are commonly associated with a certain technique, you might find that choosing one needle (instead of another) has advantages for your own particular style of sewing. The good news is that hand sewing needles are inexpensive, giving us the opportunity to experiment with them without spending a fortune. Beginning hand quilters sometimes assume they must use the tiniest betweens, size 12, to sew short quilting stitches, but we recommend you purchase a packet with multiple needle sizes and experiment with the larger sizes first to become accustomed to the quilting process before you move on to the teeny betweens. Why? Because working with a very tiny needle can be frustrating when you’re not accustomed to it, and can actually result in stitches that are inconsistent or longer than they should be. Start with a size 9 needle and work towards the smaller needles as you become accustomed to hand quilting. Sharps are popular for hand applique and general hand sewing tasks. Think of sharps as a universal needle that should always be in your sewing kit. As with betweens, it’s helpful to purchase a multi-size packet of sharps and experiment a bit with handling different needle widths and lengths. You can use a sharps needle to sew the binding to a quilt and for hand applique.
Embroidery needles are similar to sharps, but their elongated eyes are designed to handle strands of floss. Beading needles are long and thin, handy for sewing beads onto fabric. Chenille needles have a large eye and a sharp point and can be used to add silk ribbon embellishments to your work. Bodkins are hefty, with a large eye and blunt “point” (thread elastic or another material through the eye and pull it through a casing). Basting needles (sometimes called longs) are usually 3 to 3 1/2 inches in length and are used to hand baste a quilt to prepare it for quilting.
Grab a needle with a hemostat to help pull it through the layers of a quilt sandwich if it becomes a bit stuck.Use a wrap-around type guitar/banjo fingerpick to pick up the needle when thread basting. The pick works like a spoon to catch the needle tip.Try a tacky fingertip moistener from an office supply store to help grip a needle.
