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machine needles demystified
2007 @ 6:14 am
As new-to-sewing I have found the numbering of needles confusing. Much a the way a newbie knitter figures out that the sticks are dually numbered (thank you American exceptionalism), I want to understand the two numbers on my machine needle packages. I suspect the same social theory is to blame for my confusion. There are plenty of sites out there that will tell you which needle is recommended for which fabric (. But what’s the rationale behind the numbers? I spent considerable time chasing 2 popular needle companies: Singer and Organ and then found this!
If you think I’m wasting my time here–check this out. The first three packages listed below tell us they are “yellow band” ballpoint, yet clearly only one is banded yellow. The other two are blue and purple respectively. All of the needles are style 2045, but I’ve only heard of style 20/20 when shopping in stores. I guess regular point needles have a blue background to its package and chromium needles have a yellow background, but no description on the package. Oh wait, some chromiums have a red background. Oops, and so do some ballpoints. I think the blue might represent “variety pack”?
My point is, if there is rhyme or reason to this, it’s not apparent. You must read your package very carefully and choose the needle that is right for your project. Ignore all the colors and flashing lights! Stich ‘Em Up has a good reference chart.
Although I did some research on this topic, our thanks must go to About.com. Thank you Debbie Colgrove for recognizing this gap in sewing knowledge available on the web! Her chart clarified my main confusion, but there are plenty of other numbers, colors and letters to add confusion when shopping for needles.
The Organ Co. goes a step further than Singer and on its User Support page explains the letters (OMG, letters?!) that are sometimes found with the numbers on their packages.
Many of our household-use sewing machine needles bear the designation “HA.” The “H” stands for “Household-use” and the “A” the order in which our household-use sewing machine needles have been developed. The designation “x1″ identifies the sewing machine needle as the first generation of the “HA” family. The designation “HAx1″ therefore means that this needle embodies the earliest developments of household-use sewing machine needles that have to date been put to practical use.
I ask you–who but Organ really cares about the generational of the needle? Visit them for more details, but letters also denote recommended fabric type (knit, organza, leather) at the Organ Co. The site provides a handy chart for which needle, thread and fabric work best in concert (see User Support page). Organ also appears to make a needle that is even finer than an 8/60. Only birds can hear it sew 
I hope this helps someone–it certainly helped me!
Comments
wow! thanks for the blow-by-blow. that whole numbering system is ridiculous. why do we americans have to be so different? this is another area that we could stand to standardize in 
along with using the metric system.
Thanks for helping clarify a sytem that is far more confusing than it needs to be.
Ugh! This is way more complicated than it needs to be. That’s why I always buy machine stuff from the nice ladies at the sewing machine store, even if there are cheaper prices elsewhere — at least they know what I need!!!
I have a container of sewing machine needles that states 14, which I know is the size of the needle. But then on the bottom of the plastic container is: 15X1. That’s all the information I have about these needles. I wondered what the 15X1 meant,as I was looking for sharps in my stash of needles. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
By the way I like your site!
This url has a very nice description of needle types, sizes, and nomenclature. http://www.schmetzneedles.com/....._Guide.pdf
Ugh, this makes my head hurt. Why oh why do these things have to be so complicated? Standardize, people, standardize!