What is the difference between embroidery needles and tapestry needles?
Embroidery (or “crewel”) needles have sharp points and slightly elongated eyes. They're used for crewel work and most surface embroidery where piercing through the fabric threads is necessary to the stitching. Tapestry needles (pictured above) have long eyes and blunt points.
Yes, tapestry needles can be used for embroidery. They have a blunt tip and a large eye, making them suitable for working with thicker threads and yarns, as well as for stitching on woven fabrics like canvas or evenweave.
Embroidery needles are usually less sharp than sewing needles, with a larger eye. These features make an embroidery needle better suited to embroidery thread, which has a tendency to break, snap or fray when being used with a sewing needle.
Tapestry needles are made specifically to be used with yarn because the eye of the needle is much larger than your normal sewing needle. Also, unlike sewing needles they have a blunt end so that they don't puncture the plies of the yarn you're using.
The most common size needle across all sewing applications is a size 80/12. For embroidery, the most common size is the slightly smaller 75/11. Embroidery needles are typically available in 3 sizes: 75/11, 80/12, and 90/14. The lighter the weight of the fabric, the smaller needle should be used.
Generally, a sharp needle with a large eye is used for embroidery. Needles specifically designed for embroidery have a larger eye to accommodate embroidery floss or yarn. For finer work, such as detailed embroidery or stitching on delicate fabric, a smaller, finer needle would be more suitable.
Chenille needles have sharp points, as well, but have a larger eye and thicker form than embroidery needles. They work well on the same fabrics as embroidery needles. Tapestry needles have a large eye, but a blunt point that works well with canvas work or counted cross-stitch on aida fabric.
Embroidery Needles: These needles have a sharp point and a larger eye, allowing for easy threading of embroidery floss or threads. They come in various sizes, with larger numbers indicating finer needles. Crewel Needles: Crewel needles are similar to embroidery needles but have a longer and sharper point.
The most popular sizes used to embroider are size 7 and 9. Because of their large eye these needles are suitable for general sewing.
My favourites to use are sizes 3, 5 and 9. Pictured above are the 3 needles, and from left to right are size 5, size 3 and size 9. Size 5 is a very commonly used embroidery needle because it's not super long, and the eye is a really good size for the embroidery thread.
What is a tapestry needle in embroidery?
A tapestry needle is a hand sewing needle with a blunt end and a large eye. That blunt end part is important. Since cross stitch is traditionally done on fabric with an open weave like Aida, you don't need a sharp needle.
A bent-tip tapestry needle is a 'must have' for any knitter. Perfect for sewing up seams and for weaving in ends, the bent tip slides under and through stitches with ease.
ByKristen McDonnell Last updated: November 22, 2023. 692 shares. A tapestry needle, also called a yarn needle, is a large-eyed blunt sewing needle to sew your knitted pieces together. The eye of your needle is large enough for most of your heaviest yarn weights to fit through.
As a general rule, your sharp, or normal point needles are used for your woven fabrics with a few exceptions and your ballpoint needles are used for your knits and fine fabrics such as sheers.
Use needle 75/11 for embroidery. It is recommended that a 90/14 needle should be used when embroidering on heavyweight fabrics or stabilizing products (for example, denim, puffy foam, etc.).
There is an acceptable range of 0°-20° to the right, but 5° is the absolute ideal. The chance of thread breaks increases if the needle orientation is outside of the acceptable range. As a visual reference, think of a minute on a clock face as being 6°.
The sharp point pierces the fabric easily and the more rotund body of the needle creates an easier path for the chosen thread to pass through.
For most embroidery projects on average-weight fabric, a 75/11 needle works great. For heavier cottons and linens, you might go up to an 80/12 size, and for heavy denims and fleeces you might use a 90/14 needle. Please note that the thinner your thread, the smaller the needle should be.
Embroidery: Also known as crewel needles; identical to sharps but have a longer eye to enable easier threading of multiple embroidery threads and thicker yarns.
Sashiko needles are longer and smooth for running stitching. The larger eye of needle is especially for sashiko thread which is larger than embroidery needles. These needles have a large needle eye and are flexible and warp resistant. Runs smoothly through fabric.
What is a 90 14 needle used for?
90/14 needles are great when you are starting to sew medium weight fabrics like poplin, broadcloth and muslin. Think printed quilting cotton. These three sizes come standard in a pack of Schmetz universal needles, which is a great pack to get you started.
The main difference is the materials you use - cross-stitchers will be used to Aida and evenweave fabrics and stranded cotton floss, whereas in Tapestry you'll need a single thread or double thread canvas (Mono, Interlock or Penelope), and soft cotton or wool threads.
The most commonly used tapestry needles for cross stitch are sizes 24 and 26, although needles are available in sizes 20, 22, 24, 26 and 28. When using a size 28, use only the equivalent of one strand of stranded cotton (floss) because the eye is very delicate and will break.
Whether you are looking at the European number or the American number, the lower the number is the smaller the needle and the higher the number is the larger the needle. Generally speaking, the needle point determines the fabric type and the needle size determines the type of embroidery thread.
A basic guideline that many professional embroiderers use to determine when to change needles is the three strikes rule. You should replace a needle whenever there has been three consecutive thread breaks on the needle. You should also change a needle if it breaks or is skipping stitches.
