Hello everyone
following our discussion on needles ( and thanks to all those that sent in your comments and shared information) Mary Corbet followed up with some very interesting information. You can read the whole article here:
http://www.needlenthread.com/2012/05/the-broken-needle.html#more-14437
Thanks for that Mary you are a minefield of information! I think she also made mention of Pony needles in an earlier article? I am still in awe of the way we are able to communicate via the internet on a global scale – I have this image of the worldwide needlework community sitting around a grand boardroom table discussing needles!
Have a wonderful weekend. Trish
Enjoyed reading Mary’s article, and I find that needles do not last long nowadays. It is infuriating to be happily sewing away and a needle snaps.
I would like to see a discussion on the sizes of needles people use. I took an online embroidery class and purchased the recommended needles: embroidery multple sizes, milliners (didn’t buy -too long), and chenille size 18. Everything was too long for me. I made these purchase over the internet. I have now purchased John James big eye size 10, R. Hemming embroidery sizes 8 and 10 large eye, and chenille sizes 22 and 24. I have average size hands, but I find it difficult working with long needles. When I hand applique I use a size 10 quilting needle. I am curious about what others use.
I also have average sized hands, not fat fingers, and never get my nails “done” at salons (they are not long, fake and painted in other words) and I also prefer short needles. That is why I tend to ignore most classes/kits/magazine projects etc. They indicate what is preferred by the designer or the person doing the project, not for me, so I “go my own way” so to speak. My speculation is that many women who waste thier time at nail salons like longer needles because they cannot embroider otherwise. This is not to say that all women who use long needles waste time in salons, some women likely just prefer them, depending on thier style and how they were taught. However, in the embroidery group I used to go to, (no longer exists) I did notice that the ones who used longer needles were the ones who regularly patronized nail salons, and the longer the nails the longer the needles. One woman who was there only for a couple of weeks and then gave it up, had horribly long fake nails and complained that embroidery was “too hard” and took “too long” to finish a project. She was constantly fumbling around because her nails were constantly in the way. She also had this wierd notion that “sewing” (that is what she called it) was “easy” and that she could do a big project (she was trying to embroider a patch on some jeans) quickly and have it look like a magazine cover in no time… uh-huh. The friend of a friend who invited her told us later that her nails were of utmost importance to her and that she would never have them done shorter just to give her a “hobby”. I could be wrong about the fingernails speculation, but just a thought.
Thanks Maribel interesting theory. I prefer my nails to be a bit shorter for stitching. Trish
Hello Trish, My daughter, Terri, is in India on TDY. I ask her to bring me Pony Needles and India paper to embroider on paper. Thank you for the suggestion on Pony Needles. I fond a business in USA who sells these needles on GOOGLE!! of course!! I also receive Mary Corbet’s email everyday.Pat, Texas
Yes, you are right. Mine just say “assembled in the EU according to specifications.” I had ordered size 9 and 10 crewel needles to start working thru the lessons in Trish’s book.
In Christ,
Gail J.
Not sure ‘minefield’ brings to my mind something good and positive and informational.
Yes – I went straight to my stash and will now treasure those that are Made in England. i hadn’t realised that that was missing on the nerwer packs.