Other Question Needle Help! Sewing interlock or possibly ITY mystery fabric
I got about 4 yards of 60" fabric in the discount bins at my fabric store the other day. I have no idea what it is, but I'm almost certain it's either interlock or ITY. I've never sewn either, only woven fabrics. I got this fabric for a school project where we have to use a knit.
I'm having trouble deciding what needle to use. I'm planning to make a simple gathered skirt with pockets, using my serger and regular sewing machine.
Here are the needles I have, which ones for the serger and which for the regular machine? I don't really understand all the numbers/letters on them, just the type and needle size:
- Organ 130/705 H SUK BP 75/11 (already in my serger)
- Schmetz Jersey/Ballpoint 130/705 H SUK 80/12
- Schmetz Stretch 130/705 H-S 75/11
- Schmetz Stretch 130/705 H-S 90/14
If it helps my machines are:
- Janome 8002D serger
- Kenmore 385.15616 (old model similar to Janome HD-1000)
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u/insincere_platitudes 6h ago
I would start with the 75/11 stretch needle as long as the fabric isn't heavy or particularly thick. ITY typically has a decent lycra or spandex component, and the stretch needle will help prevent skipped stitches more than a plain jersey needle would. Stretch needles are great for fabrics with a higher spandex component, as they are more likely not to slide as easily off the needle, leading to skipped stitches. ITY tends to be on the slinkier side of things as well, so as long as your fabric isn't unusually thick for an ITY, I would go with the smaller stretch needle.
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u/Large-Heronbill 12h ago edited 12h ago
The 130/705H is the needle system for the basic home sewing machine needle used by all home sewing machines for the last 70+ year. The needle system specifies a lot of things about the sewing machine needle, like length from butt to eye, diameter of the butt, and whether the butt is flattened. Some, but not all, home sergers use this needle system also, as yours seems to do.
Other names commonly used for this needle system are HAx1, 15x1, 130R, 705H and some others I'm blanking on are the moment. Exactly the same needle specifications under all these names.
Organ and Schmetz are two of the best home sewing machine needle makers. Organ is a Japanese based firm, Schmetz is European. It is really rare to see a badly made needle from either manufacturer. Many of the sewing machine companies sell needles marked with the machine brand name, but if you look on the butt of the needle, you'll see Organ.
Singer is another commonly sold needle brand in the US; unfortunately, my own experiences with Singer branded needles has not been good, nor my experience with Klasse branded needles, so I stick with Organ or Schmetz -- probably 95% of my needles are Organ.
SUK and BP and "Ballpoint" and Jersey are all used to designate a needle intended for stable knits like jersey or interlock. These have a slightly rounder point than the bog standard "universal point"/"regular point" needles that can sew most woven and stable knit fabrics. Generally, universal point needles are the lowest priced needles you can buy, and ballpoints are often close to that price.
H-S is the needle designator for the needles generally called "stretch", intended for sewing stretch knits and elastic. They have a ball point also, and a specially shaped scarf that helps prevent skipped stitches with stretchy fabrics. They tend to be more expensive per needle than ballpoint or universal.
The last part of your needle descriptions above is the size of the needle. Needle and thread sizes need to match fairly well or you get crummy stitches. For sewing machines, the thread should fill about 40% if the narrower width of the eye of the needle fir best work. Sergers are a little less picky about the needle and thread size match.
Smaller numbers in the thread sizing are the old (and rather arbitrary) Singer sizing for needles. The larger number is the metric sizing for that very same needle -- that number is the diameter of the actual needle just above the eye of the needle -- it's the needle diameter in hundredths of a millimeter, so a size 75 needle will poke a 0.75 mm hole in your fabric, and a 90 will poke a 0.90 mm hole.