Hand Sewing Needles?

[Thistledubh]

Greetings, Barb! I'm collecting my bits and bobs for Kilt Kamp, and I'd like to ask a question about needles. I've favored John James #9 Long Darners for most forms of handwork for ages, due to my largish hands. TAoK suggests hand sewing needles that are "short and sharp". While my old favorites are sharp, they're anything but short. Could you share with us your favorite brand, style and size for sewing pleats? For basting? Thank you!

[Dixiecat]

My choices for sewing the pleats are sz 9 quilting betweens. They're short, sharp and quite fine (as in very thin/sharp.) If you find those too short for your hands, try quilting sharps in a size 9 or 10. Quilting needles are very sharp as they're used to sew through several layers of fabric and while cottons are not as heavy as the wool twill of the kilts, they can be very tightly woven. The eye of betweens and sharps is much better suited for the very small stitches taken when sewing pleats.

I suggest you do what I did for my first kilt. Buy a pack of assorted quilting type needles in sz 9 or 10 and try them out. You'll quickly find your tool of choice. Then go buy a few packages as I found that I went through 3-5 needles per kilt. The 9s that I use are quite thin and they eventually bent from use.

For places that need the carpet/buttonhole thread, a longer, sharp needle with a larger eye like the darning needle works well.

For basting, a long sharp needle like your darners and milliners hand sewing needles are perfect!

[The Wizard of BC]

I too have large hands. I find Milliners needles good for hand sewing. I use No. 5-6 milliners for almost all my hand sewing except for sewing the straps.

[Barb T]

I think the main thing is that the needles I use for pleating are thin and sharp - that way, you can put the needle precisely where you want to put it. Big heavy needles are harder to place precisely.

But, I probably use 4 different size needles for various parts of a kilt. The advice above about a thin needle is mostly about pleating. I use a big honking needle for stitching basting and canvas.

The advice to buy a package and try them out is good advice. But the single best advice I could give is to learn how to use a thimble. It actually speeds up the process considerably and allows you to use a much shorter and finer needle because you don't have to grip the needle to push it through the tartan. Stab, push, pull, in one smooth motion, rather than stab, grip, shove, shift fingers, grip, pull.

[James Hood]

Two extra steps here even to sewing on buttons, which Barb T has managed to do without on infinitely more complex projects...

..."grunt" and "snort", oft repeated especially during the "push" and "pull" steps.

[Barb T]

hahahah - made me giggle.... ;-)

[unixken]

I occasionally add "bleed" to my hand sewing.

[Andrew Breecher]

In addition to a hand sewing needle, I would also highly recommend a tailor's thimble, which has an open top and is worn on the middle finger of your sewing hand. It takes a little bit to get used to, but it will help with speed, accuracy, and you won't get as tired if you sew all day. Some good instructions on how to hold the needle with a thimble in this fashion can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_xkHuJEPU4

[Barb T]

There are lots of kinds of thimbles, and the main thing is to find one that feels comfortable and fits well so that you actually learn how to use it and then use it whenever you're stitching kilts. Many people wear a thimble on the ring finger. I wear mine on my middle finger. Neither is right or wrong - whatever works well for you is what you should do.

Personally, I'm not fond of metal thimbles. The one I liked best is a leather one that Dritz used to sell with an interior metal reinforcing (plain leather just wears through too fast). They no longer make it, but it's very simple to make one for yourself, and I've made many for myself and other people since Dritz discontinued them a decade ago. I like them because they are adjustable, they aren't slippery, and they don't make my fingernails ache. Here's a post I made several years ago on how to make this kind of thimble:

http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...thimble-18607/