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hand sewing

How to Thread a Needle by Hand

Thread a hand-sewing needle by guiding the thread through its eye, or use a wire-loop threader to pull it through.

By ThatPainter Team 1 min read
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To thread a hand-sewing needle, hold the needle with its eye—the small opening at one end—visible, guide a clean thread end through it, then pull through enough thread for your sewing task. If the thread is difficult to guide, a wire-loop needle threader can carry it through the eye.

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Thread a needle by hand

  1. Find the eye. The eye is the opening at the end of the needle where the thread passes. See Sewing Education Wales’ needle-threading handout for an illustration.
  2. Hold the needle steady. Position it so the eye is easy to see and reach.
  3. Guide the thread through. Pass the thread end through the eye, then pull through the length you need for your sewing task.

This direct method needs no special tool. If you are having trouble guiding the thread through the opening, try a wire-loop needle threader.

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Use a wire-loop needle threader

  1. Push the threader’s thin wire loop through the needle’s eye.
  2. Put the thread end through the loop.
  3. Pull the loop back through the eye; the loop carries the thread with it.

This is an optional aid, not a requirement. A demonstration of the hand-sewing method appears in Cucicucicoo’s needle-threader video, published 9 July 2020.

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Hand needles and sewing-machine threaders are different

The steps above are for threading a hand needle. A sewing machine’s built-in threader uses a mechanism and procedure specific to the machine, so follow its manual rather than applying the hand-sewing steps. Brother’s instructions for its needle threader and its CS70 machine illustrate model-specific guidance: the cited mechanism is for home sewing-machine needles sized 75/11 through 100/16, and some special needles or threads must be threaded manually. Those limits apply to the referenced Brother machines, not to hand needles or every machine.

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