Fabrics & materials

A sewing machine needle with a rounded tip designed to slide between the loops of knit fabric rather than piercing and breaking the yarns.

A natural-fibre sewing thread with a matte finish and low stretch, well suited to natural woven fabrics such as quilting cotton and linen.

A sewing machine needle with a strong, slim, sharp point designed to penetrate tightly woven heavy fabrics such as denim and canvas without deflecting.

Fine elastic-cored thread wound onto the bobbin and used with regular thread on top to create shirring, gathering fabric into stretchy rows as it is stitched.

A sewing machine needle with a larger eye and a light ballpoint to reduce thread fraying and shredding during dense decorative stitching.

A sewing machine needle with a wedge-shaped cutting point that pierces leather and vinyl cleanly rather than tearing the material.

The numbering conventions, chiefly the European metric size and American size, used to indicate a sewing machine needle's shaft diameter and suitability for fabric weight.

An all-purpose sewing thread with high strength, low shrinkage and good elasticity, suitable for most woven and knit fabrics including synthetics.

A sewing machine needle with a tapered, sharp point designed to stitch through multiple layers of fabric and batting cleanly.

Lightweight, fine-spun polyester thread wound on large cones for overlocker use, chosen for low bulk in seam finishing rather than seam strength.

Spun or filament fibre engineered specifically for stitching, selected by fibre content, weight and finish to suit the fabric and seam it will hold.

A fine, strong, slightly elastic natural filament thread with a subtle sheen, traditionally used for hand basting, tailoring and hand-finishing fine fabrics.

A sewing machine needle with a specially shaped eye and scarf designed to prevent skipped stitches in highly elastic fabrics such as spandex blends.

A heavier-weight decorative thread used for visible topstitching, such as on jeans, giving a bolder line than standard construction thread.

A sewing machine needle with two shafts joined to a single shank, producing two parallel rows of stitching on top and a zigzag underneath, used for hems on knits.

A general-purpose sewing machine needle with a slightly rounded point, suited to most woven fabrics and light to medium knits.