Sewing Machine Needle A to Z

Page 1 of 12

Contents…… . . .

The basic functions of a needle

Needle Parts

Needle Selection

Types of needle

Needle Size / Thickness

Md. Masudur Rahman

Department of Textile Engineering

4th Batch

National Institute of Textile Engineering and Research (NITER)

Sewing Machine Needle A to Z

Page 2 of 12

A sewing needle is a long slender tool with a pointed tip. The first needle were made of bone or

wood; modern ones are manufactured from high steel wire, nickel or gold plated for corrosion

resistance. The highest quality embroidery needles are made of platinum

The central feature of any sewing machine is the needle or needles. Very many needle types

(systems) have been developed over time to ensure each sewing machine that uses them performs

at its best.

Needle systems may be introduced for a number of reasons such as the introduction of new or

specialized fabrics, new sewing machinery or even increases in machine speed.

Needle size is denoted by a number on the placket. The convention for sizing is that the length and

thickness of a needle increases as the number decreases. For example, a size 1 needle will be

thicker and longer, while size 10 will be shorter and finer.

1. To create a passage in the material for the thread to pass through.

2. To carry the needle thread through the material and form a loop which can be picked up

by the hook or looper mechanism.

3. To pass the needle thread through the loop formed by the looper mechanism on machines

other than lockstitch.

Introduction

The basic functions of a needle

Needle Parts:

Sewing Machine Needle A to Z

Page 3 of 12

1. Butt The starting part of bottom edge of needle. Helps for easily

attaching of needle with the needle bar or clamp

2. Shank The bottom thicker part of the needle which is tied in the

needle clamp or the needle set screw. It may be cylindrical or

flat in size. It supports the needle as a whole by providing

additional strength

3. Shoulder The intermediate section between the shank and the blade of

needle. When the needle penetrate through the fabric to reach

its lower position, then the shoulder also penetrates through

the fabric. As a result it reduces the friction between needle &

fabrics by producing a wider hole on fabric.

4. Blade The needle portion extends from the shank to the eye. This is

subjected to the greatest amount of friction and hence heat

when it passes through the material. Blade is gradually

tapered to tip

5. Long groove(s) It is a long and thin groove, presents in one side of the

needle blade . During up and down of needle through

sewing, the sewing thread take place in this groove and

reduce the frictions between fabric, needle and thread. It

provides a protective channel and reduce possibility of

damaging thread due to frictions.

6. Short groove It is formed on the other side of long groove, towards the

shuttle, hook, or looper and it assists in throwing the loop of

needle thread

7. Eye The eye of the needle is present in the bottom end of the blade.

Needle thread allowed through this eye is taken to the bottom

area. It helps to create loop

8. Scarf (Clearance) It is a curved slot, a clearance cut in the needle blade just

above the eye to permit a closer setting of the shuttle, hook,

or looper to the needle. As a result, it is easy to catch the

needle loop by the looper hook.

9. Point It is the part from needle eye to the tip. The point of the needle is shaped to provide the most

suitable penetration of the material being sewn according to its nature and the desired stitch

effect

Sewing Machine Needle A to Z

Page 4 of 12

10. Tip The ending edge pf needle is called tip. It helps to penetrate the needle into the fabric and create

hole during sewing.

There are various sizes of needle and needle should be select according to types of fabrics and

sewing thread. The size of needle is expressed directly by a number on the manufactures but metric

size is the simplest and widely used. Shortly it is denoted by Nm. Needle size is expressed by

measuring diameter of the middle of the needle blade. For example, the diameter in the middle of

a needle blade is 0.9 mm, and then the needle size would be 90 Nm. If the diameter of the middle

of a needle blade is 1.2 mm then the needle size would be 120 Nm. Generally for finer fabric,

sewing thread and needle should be finer.

Various effects of wrong sewing needle selection in apparel industry has mentioned in the below:

1. When the needle is finer than sewing thread

2. When the thread is finer than needle

3. When the needle is coarser than required fabric

4. When the needle is finer than required fabric

Selection of Needle

Effects of Wrong Needle Selection in Apparel Industry

Sewing Machine Needle A to Z

Page 5 of 12

When the sewing needle is finer than sewing thread cannot move easily through the

needle eye.

The thread will not take position accurately at the needle long groove.

More heat will generate on the needle for higher friction.

The ultimate results the thread breakage and garments production loss.

When the thread is finer than sewing needle then it may produce slipped stitch as the

needle can’t create perfect size of loop.

The fabric will be looked odd due to the larger hole.

Seam puckering may produce on woven fabric.

During sewing needle will deflect and become curve with the action of the throat plate.

This type of curve needle will produce slip stitch as the looper may not catch the loop

needle thread.

A sewing machine needle is identified with three parameters and they are:

System

Point

Size

A needle system defines the dimensions of a needle to suit the machine type. Depending on the

machine and its stitch type, the needle is designed with variations in length of blade, shank

thickness, type of eye etc. It is advisable to check with the machine manufacturer for suitability of

needle system to machine.

A needle point is classified broadly into two types:

1. Cutting Point or Leather Pont

2. Cloth Points or Round Set

Needle Identification

1. System

2. Point

1. Effects when the needle is finer than sewing thread:

2. Effects when the thread is finer than needle:

3. Effects when the needle is coarser than required fabric:

4. Effects when the needle is finer than required fabric:

Sewing Machine Needle A to Z

Page 6 of 12

Cutting point needles have sharp tips like blades. These tips are available with a wide variety of

cross-sectional shapes such as lens, rounded, triangular and square. They can be used while sewing

dense, non-fabric based material like plastic, leather. Because, there is no gap in these types of

materials. They pierce the material more readily than the round point types thereby generating less

needle heat. There are a large number of cutting points of which around 11 are in regular use.

But mainly cutting point is divided into three types:

a) Wedge Point

It produces most durable seam on leather. It resists great stress, the incision lie at right angle to the seam direction and high stitch density can be achieved

b) Cross Point

Here strength is considerably weakened. The material is likely to tear if stress is at the right angle. The incisions lie parallel to the direction of the seam.

c) Twist Point

The strength is intermediate and the incisions like 45 deg. to the direction of the seam.

1. Cutting Point Needles

Sewing Machine Needle A to Z

Page 7 of 12

Cutting points spear

Cutting Points Overview

Sewing Machine Needle A to Z

Page 8 of 12

Cutting point wedges

These are used for sewing textile materials like fabrics. The point of needle should be round in

cross section. But tip depends on fabric like knitted or woven. There are believed to be around

twenty different round points available out of these six are in common use. These are mainly

divided into two types.

a) Ball Point Needle

b) Set point Needle

The thread in the knitted

fabrics are bounded in loop

from. If any thread of loop is

drawn-off due to any reason,

then the hole structure of the

fabric starts to be opened out.

For this reason the point of

needle should be as to prevent

the opening of structure of

knitted fabric. As a result ball

point needles are used for

sewing knitted fabric.

Generally three types of ball

point needle are used

2. Cloth Points or Round Set Needles

a) Ball Point Needle

Sewing Machine Needle A to Z

Page 9 of 12

I. Light Ball Point (SES) This point is used for sewing

lightweight knitted fabric. It is

sometimes used for fine denim

and light, densely woven material to avoid damaging the material.

II. Medium Ball Point (SUK) This point is used for sewing

medium weight knitted fabric. It

is also used for medium to coarse

denims, particularly sand-washed and stonewashed grades.

III. Heavy Ball Point (SKF) This point is used for coarse

knitwear and for sewing dense

woven elastic (it won’t push the

elastic yarn through).

IV. Special ball point (SKL) Used for medium to course elastic

materials with covered elastomeric

threads and very coarse knitwear.

Generally set pointed needles are used for sewing woven fabrics. Mainly set point needle are

three types:

b) Set Point Needles

Sewing Machine Needle A to Z

Page 10 of 12

1) Slim Set Point also referred to as acute round point (SPI) This point is used for dense woven fabrics

as it causes less damage, helps set a

straighter stitch and minimizes seam

pucker. Commonly used for micro fibre and densely woven fabrics, coated materials, topstitching

of collars and cuffs in shirts.

2) Medium Set Point Needle (R):

Most of the fabric can be sewn by this type

of needle and knitted fabric can also be sewn

3) Heavy Set Point Needle:

Generally heavy set point needle is used for sewing button. There is a less possibility of button

deflection due to use of heavy point needle

The size of a needle is generally represented in one

of two ways (although there are others). The

European metric sizing system for sewing machine

needles is numbered from 60 to 110. The American

sizing system is numbered from 8 to 18.

By metric number or European number (Nm)

represents the diameter of the needle blade in

hundredths of a millimeter measured just above the

scarf but not at any reinforced part of the blade.

For example, a Nm 110 needle is 1.1 millimeter in

diameter, while a Nm 50 needle is half a millimeter

in diameter.

For both sizing systems, the lower the number the

finer the needle and the higher the number the larger

the needle.

The thickness of the blade on the right is 1.1mm

wide which is shown in Nm as 110.

The alternative standard needle sizing method is the Singer/Asia numbering system sometimes

referred to as the American system that uses a number that represents a size.

3. Needle Size / Thickness

Sewing Machine Needle A to Z

Page 11 of 12

Sewing Machine Needle Chart

Sewing Machine Needle A to Z

Page 12 of 12