How to select embroidery needles

Exercise care in choosing embroidery needles.  The best is a needle with a smooth eye that allows the silk plenty of leeway and will not pull or rough it.

1.  Be sure your needle is adapted to the size of the silk.

a.  A too small eye cuts and frays the silk, gathering it in a thick lump which must be forced through the fabric.

b.  A too large eye, shows the holes and makes the work look as if it had too few stitches.

2.  In shading, where a number of colors are used alternately, have a needle for each color and use the different needles in succession, instead of re-threading again as you come to each new color.

3.  When working on the usual materials a No. 9 or a No. 10 needle is best for double silk, No. 12 for fine embroidery with a single thread, No. 7 for thick floss, twisted embroidery silk and outline silk and No. 3 for rope silk.

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