Quilt in a Day Forums

How often do you change sewing machine needles? I tend to wait until I break one or it has burrs and doesn't sew smoothly. Probably not the best idea. If you change them more often, do you sharpen them and re-use them, or just throw them away? I've never really given this much thought until I saw something in a newsletter earlier today.

I change with every new project. If it's a big one or if there is alot of quilting on the machine I'll go through two or three needles. I use a perscription bottle with a small hole in the lid to dispose of used needles.

I change my needle after each SPOOL (not bobbin, complete spool) of thread.

If I am doing a big project, I use a fresh needle for each project. I *have* noticed I get neater results when my needles are nice and sharp.

Sometimes if I have done a small something, I will save the needle for another small project. I have a designated pin cushion for "gently used" needles so I can keep track of them. Needles that are "past due" I put in a jar with other sharps; I toss out the jar when it's full.

When I worked at the Bernina store we were told to change every 8 hours. Needles are not inspected so you might even get a new one that isn't quite perfect.

Breaking a needle can cause a lot of damage to your machine and cost lots of $$$ to get it fixed. . . it's much cheaper to change your needle.

That said....no I don't change mine as often as I should. Sometimes you can 'hear' the difference between a new needle and one that has to really work to get through the fabric.

I change mine when they break (sometimes that can be 3 or 4 in a row). When I start piecing after I've been quilting. When I hear the difference in the sewing machine and just because. I've always heard they should be changed after 8 hours, but I don't change mine that often, but I do change them more frequently than I used to.

Several years ago I got a great deal on a box of 100 needles and split them with a couple of friends. The next year, I bought another box and split them 2 ways. I think the following year I kept the whole box for myself and I didn't buy any last year. My guess is I'll need to buy another box next spring. I've found it is easier to change the needle when I know I have plenty and haven't spent $3 - $5 for a package of 4 or 5 needles. The same thing goes for my rotary blades.

Thanks for the great information. I guess I need to change needles more often! The last time I did was last month when I had some Kona fabric I got from someone else for making 'magic corners' and the needle just wouldn't go through the fabric. I finally decided the fabric had such a high thread count that the needle was too dull to go through it. It's worked great since then.

IowaGal -- is that every regular sized spool of thread? Not the bigger ones like for sergers, right? Wow, that's a lot of needles.

knitnoid -- where do you find boxes of 100 needles???

I change about every 8 hours of sewing. You can hear when it gets dull, it sorta pops into the fabric. For a quilt, I will change between the top and actual quilting. Never start a new project w/out a new needle.

I buy needles by bulk on Ebay so I change needles about once a week if I sew a few hours every day. If I sew all day I change every day.

I too, would like to know where to purchase 100 needles and bulk packages of blades. A sharp blade manks cutting so much easier, but they sure seem expensive.