How do I buy sewing needles?

[Mirrorx]

I'm not much of a seamstress but enjoy having a go and will do my own minor alterations and some home furnishings. I much prefer hand sewing to using the machine, as I find it peaceful, for all but the biggest jobs.

I have a selection of needles I've gathered over the years. Some are much nicer than others to use. Easier to thread and finer (?) sharper (?) so they glide through the fabric more easily. What am I looking for when buying them, to make sure I get the right ones? I'm down to the last one of the "nice" ones...

Different needles for different uses, which is not a lot of help. Supermarkets normally sell packets of assorted needles, good if you only sew occasionally, Hobbycraft sell a range of different types, or an old fashioned haberdasher would be a good place to go and they'll advise you on what to buy.

You could ask on Reddit. If you ask in the relevant section, you usually find there are 'experts' who follow the threads and can often provide useful advice.

There are some good sewing Facebook groups. I’m on Sewing for Beginners UK and there’s lots of helpful and knowledgeable people there.

There are different needles for different tasks although sharps are probably what you are after. They come in different sizes - larger sizes will be thicker and have a bigger eye, and will be more robust (confusingly though, at least for embroidery needles, the larger the size the smaller the number). If you’ve still got the packaging for the needles you like, that should tell you the brand, type and size of needle. This is also a good guide to the types available www.jjneedles.com/needles-guide

In terms of buying, John Lewis have a reasonable range although I buy mine online - there are lots of suppliers.