Types of Needles

General Purpose

• Universal Point - Point is slightly rounded.  All purpose needle for sewing wovens and knits.
• Ball Point - Point is more rounded than Universal, designed to slide between yarns of knit fabrics without snagging.
• Sharp/ Microtex - Sharp point for perfect straight stitches.  Ideal for silks, microfibers, and heirloom sewing.

Specialty Needles

• Denim/Jeans - Very sharp point and stiff shank for stitching tightly woven fabrics like denim, canvas, and multiple fabric layers.
• Hemstitch/Wing - Wide "wings" on sides of needle create openwork stitching in tightly woven fabrics, such as linen and batiste.  Use for hemstitching and heirloom embroidery.
• Leather - Wedge shaped point pierces real leather and suede, creating small stitch holes and strong seams. Never use on woven or knit fabrics.
• Machine Embroidery - Designed with a special scarf and large eye to prevent shredding and breakage when stitching dense designs with rayon and special machine embroidery threads.
• Metallica - Special scarf  prevents skipped stitches; the large eye accommodates heavier threads and the large groove prevents shredding of delicate metallic threads.
• Quilting - Tapered needle with sharp point for stitching through multiple fabric layers and intersecting seams.
• Stretch - Special design prevents skipped stitches on swimwear and knit fabrics that contain spandex or Lycra as well as synthetic suedes.
• Topstitch - Extra sharp point with an extra large eye and large groove to accommodate topstitching thread.

Double (Twin) & Triple Needles

Double and triple needles are designed with two or three shafts on a crossbar that extends from a single shank.  Use for pintucking, heirloom sewing, decorative topstitching and hemming.

Change needles frequently.  A dull needle or one that has a burr can cause the thread to break or snag the fabric.  Bent needles can break or cause skipped stitches.

Note: This information was taken from Joann.com