Warning: hand sewing denim with cheap needles nearly ruined my project

I used to just grab whatever needle pack was on sale at the craft store for ALL my sewing. Last month I tried hemming some thick denim jeans with a size 7 universal needle and it snapped on the third stitch. Switched to a size 16 denim needle and it glided through like butter with zero breakage. The time I wasted unpicking broken threads and redoing that seam was about 2 hours of my Saturday. Now I match my needle to the fabric weight every single time. Has anyone else had a needle failure ruin a specific garment project?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_fiona1mo ago

Did you see that recent tutorial on needle types for heavy fabrics?

river_bailey21mo ago

Mild disagree with @the_fiona on this one. The tutorial kind of glosses over how denim needles handle really thick canvas versus what you actually need for multiple layers of upholstery fabric. A 100/16 denim needle works fine for most jeans, but if you're sewing through six layers of heavyweight twill, you really want a 110/18 or even a 120/20 to keep from snapping needles mid-seam. It's a small detail, but it saves a lot of frustration when you're in the middle of a project.