10 Sewing Notions You Need to Know About: Self Threading Needles
By Afton Warrick
Today, I’m very excited to share a notion I consider to be a free-motion essential (along with a free-motion foot, Machingers gloves and Supreme Slider).
I prefer to tie off and bury my quilting threads, and Clover Self Threading Needles make this feasible. Alternatively, you can make several tiny stitches in one place, but I (and quilt show judges) don’t like the knotty mess this can create on the back of my quilts. While I try to make my lines of free-motion stitching run from edge to edge, or as continuous as possible, sometimes I end up needing to tie off mid-quilt, so Clover Self Threading Needles are a must.
I’ve started quilting the modified Snowflake Shimmer Quilt Along top I made using Act It Out from Sarah Jane’s Let’s Pretend collection for Michael Miller. You can find the Quilt Along on Yvonne of Quilting Jetgirl’s blog, or purchase the full pdf pattern with four size options.
I poked the needle through the hole where the threads originated, tipped it horizontally, pushed it through the batting without going through the backing, and pulled it back through the top before snipping.
Burying the thread tails in the batting layer makes for a clean finish, and isn’t as tedious when it takes no time at all to thread your needle. The self-threading needles come in a 5 pack of assorted sizes, which is handy in case you use different thicknesses of thread.
Have you attempted free-motion? How do you secure your threads?
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