Sewing machine needles - help!

[ADuckNamedSplash]

I'm a fairly novice sewist with a relatively basic sewing machine. In the time I've had it, I''ve stuck to the needle that it came with. However, the needle has now broken and I have no idea what I'm doing in terms of replacing it! I've got a feeling the machine came with some extras / spares, but don't know where these are, so I need to buy new. The things I can't figure out:

1. What is the proper name for standard needles? I've seen some described as "ballpoint" - is this what I would have been using until now? Or is that something specialist?

1. Are the needles that you can buy compatible with all machines, or do I need to stick to the same brand? (Brother, if that makes any difference)

To answer your question quickly, buy a pack of Universal needles in sizes 80/12 and 90/14 if you are using cottons/poly cotton. As you're new to sewing it might be an idea to buy a larger mixed pack including a denim needle. Top tip, when you take a new needle out of the pack put a pin in its place so that you know what size is in your machine.

A ball point needle is especially for sewing knitted fabrics like jersey. When the needle goes in and out of the fabric it doesn't pull out the loops as the end of the needle is slightly rounded like a ballpoint.

You can buy packs of standard needles of different sizes to use with different weights of fabric. For cottons and the like you need what's commonly called Universal needles or Sharps. The sizes are shown in metric and imperial and appear with a slash between them like e.g. 90/14. The numbers relate to the diameter of the needle. You can get packs with mixed sizes. I'd use 80/12 for everyday cottons and 90/14 for a heavier weight cotton.

I'm not sure about compatibility with Brother but I think they're fairly standard. Is there a flat side to the broken needle, the bit that's at the top?. I like Schmetz needles or Organ needles.

Here's some links.

www.schmetzneedles.com/schmetz-household-needle-chart/
www.thesewingdirectory.co.uk/sewing-machine-needle-guide/

Happy sewing.

Perfect, thank you so much!