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By nature embroidery is supposed to be a relaxing and mindful craft, but there is one thing that can make it especially stressful: not using the right needle. Choosing a needle that’s appropriate for your thread, fabric and project will save you tangles, pricked fingers, and the frustration of fighting with your thread!

What to Keep in Mind When Choosing a Needle for Embroidery

There are five things to keep in mind when choosing needles. They are:

1 - The technique or type of project you are doing

Needles come in a variety of thicknesses and lengths with different sized eyes for different types of thread. Are you doing freestyle embroidery? Counted cross stitch? Sashiko? Crewel embroidery? Each type of embroidery has needles that correspond best with the techniques you’ll be using.

2 - The fabric or other medium you are stitching on

While sharper needles work best on woven fabrics, blunt-tipped needles are a good choice for stretchy/knit fabrics or fabrics with a distinct weave such as aida.

3 - The type of thread or fiber you’re stitching with

There are many different types of threads and fibers that can be used in hand embroidery from cotton to silk, wool to linen, plus manmade fibers. Some threads are divisible whereas others are not. You can stitch with ribbon, cording, yarn and more. Different types of fibers work best with different needles.

4 - The weight/size of the thread

Once you’ve drilled down to the type of needle you need for your project, you’ll need to choose a needle size. Needle sizes are usually identified by a number. A lower number indicates a needle with a larger eye. So a size 3 embroidery needle would have a larger eye than a size 9 embroidery needle, and therefore be better suited to larger threads.

5 - The type of stitch

In the case of some types of stitches, for example bullion knots or cast-on stitches, using certain needles will make your stitches easier to create and more beautiful.

In numerical order: 1 - beading needle, 2 - milliners needle, 3 - chenille needle, 4 - embroidery needle, 5 - long sashiko needle, 6 - darning needle.

Why Does the Size of a Needle Matter?

Using the right sized needle will make stitching more enjoyable and set you up for success!

If your needle is too large… it will be much more likely for the thread to slip right out of the eye of your needle. In addition, a needle that's too thick will create a hole that can cause stitches to be pulled through your fabric (particularly when doing stitches like french knots).

If your needle is too small… forcing a heavier thread through a small needle eye will cause the fibers to fray and break. Plus, you’ll have to wrestle with your needle to bring the thread through the fabric. Not only is this a frustrating way to stitch, it can tear your fabric or cause you to inadvertently stab your fingers!

Whatever type of needles you are working with, grab a pack of mixed sizes. Then you’ll be prepared to stitch with a variety of thread weights, and you’ll have extra needles if one breaks or becomes dulled from use.

Needles Commonly Used for Hand Stitching

Now that we’ve covered what to pay attention to when choosing a needle, it’s time to make a selection for your project. Below are some of the most common types of needles to use for hand stitching.

Embroidery Needles (aka Crewel Needles)

Description: Sharp needles with an eye particularly suited to six-strand embroidery floss. These are the most common needles used for hand embroidery.

Threads to use with them: Six-strand embroidery floss, some pearl cotton, crewel wool threads, linen threads

Fabric to use with them: Felt, quilters cotton, linen, and other light- to midweight woven fabrics

Check out… this variety pack of DMC embroidery needles.

Having a variety of embroidery needles on hand is useful when working with six-strand embroidery floss.

Tapestry Needles (aka Cross Stitch Needles)

Description: These needles have a large eye and a blunt tip so that they can slip between fibers rather than splitting them as a sharp-pointed needle would. Small tapestry needles are used for cross stitch projects.

Threads to use with them: Six-strand embroidery floss, tapestry yarn

Fabric to use with them: Aida, needlepoint canvas, knit/stretchy fabrics

Check out… this variety pack of DMC tapestry needles.

Chenille Needles

Description: These needles are similar in shape to tapestry needles with a large eye but they have a very sharp tip which is helpful for piercing heavier fabrics.

Threads to use with them: Pearl cotton, tapestry yarn, crewel wool or other heavy threads, silk ribbons

Fabric to use with them: Quilters cotton, linen, felt, denim, duck cloth and other heavy woven fabrics

Check out… this variety pack of DMC chenille needles.

Chenille needles most notable feature is their large eye which is suitable for many different weights of thread.

Milliners Needles (aka Straw Needles)

Description: This particularly long needle is helpful for embroidering long, wrapped stitches where the thread is looped around the shaft of the needle. It has a smaller eye than embroidery needles. A must-have for long bullion knots, double cast-on stitches, drizzle stitches, and the like.

Threads to use with them: Pearl cotton, six-strand embroidery floss, crewel wool or other midweight threads

Fabric to use with them: Felt and woven fabrics such as quilters cotton, linen, denim and duck cloth

Check out… this variety pack of Tulip milliners needles as well as Tulip size 1 milliners needles.

The long length of a milliners needle is ideal for large wrapped stitches such as bullion knots.

Darning Needles

Description: Large, sharp-tipped needles with elongated eyes that are most often used for darning. They can also be useful in knitting or crochet applications because of their large size.

Threads to use with them: Yarn, tapestry yarn, wool or cotton threads

Fabric to use with them: Felt, wool, or fabrics with a looser weave, like linen.

Check out… this variety pack of DMC darning needles.

Darning needles have a very thick shaft and large eye. They are best for stitching with yarn and piercing loosely woven fabrics.

Sashiko Needles

Description: Designed specifically for Japanese Sashiko folk embroidery, these needles are very sharp, thick and rigid to help with doing several running stitches at once. Longer Sashiko needles will keep lines of running stitches straight whereas shorter needles are meant for going around curves.

Threads to use with them: Sashiko thread

Fabric to use with them: Quilters cotton, linen, denim and other woven fabrics

Check out… this variety pack of Tulip Sashiko needles.

The long rigid shaft of sashiko needles are perfect for creating several running stitches at once.

Beading Needles

Description: Very fine needles with a small eye that will fit through small seed beads.

Threads to use with them: Nylon beading thread, single strands of six-strand embroidery floss

Fabric to use with them: Felt, lightweight woven fabrics such as silk, quilters cotton or linen

Check out… this variety pack of DMC beading needles.

Beading needles are very fine so they can fit through the smallest of seed beads.

When you need a hand threading your needle…

Not only is it faster to use a needle threader, but it can save your eyes from strain too. I have two threaders that I use regularly for this job - the DMC needle threader (which is like three threaders in one for different weights of thread) and this needle threader by Clover, which I really like to use with my milliners needles, or other needles with small eyes.

This Clover threader is sturdy enough for thicker threads, yet fits perfectly inside the smaller eye of a milliners needle.

Keep those needles organized and in place.

Once you have a variety of needles on hand, you’ll be ready to try all sorts of unique threads and different embroidery projects! But you’ll also need a way to keep your needles organized. I created this tutorial for a hand-stitched felt needle book precisely for that job. Or grab a magnetic needle case like this one to keep everything safe.

Lastly, pick up a needle minder to use with your project because there’s nothing worse than a lost needle! Stitched Modern has several cute ones, or grab this simple one from DMC.