Schmetz STRETCH Sewing Needles, 5pk

Schmetz Stretch Needles ~ Size 75/11, 5 needles per pack.  These needles fit the Singer Featherweight 221 and 222 perfectly! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   Needles of exactly the proper shape and of the very best quality are absolutely essential to good work with a sewing machine.  If you still have original unused Singer brand needles in the little paper or plastic packages (typically made in the U.S.A., Great Britain or Germany) - as long as they are not rusted or bent from age - they are of the finest quality and you can use them with confidence.  Newer Singer needles (made in Singapore, Brazil or the likes thereof), however, are not made to the same superior quality that they once were, which is why we use and recommend the Schmetz brand of needles for today’s modern sewist.  The quality of Schmetz is comparably equivalent to the original Singer needles.   Click here to download this antique booklet illustrating how a Singer Needle was made by the Singer Manufacturing Company Below, you will find information that was taken from an old Singer Machine Sewing Teacher’s Textbook with updates for today’s sewing.  Much of the information is still current and useful. A perfect stitch can be obtained only when the thread is selected to suit the fabric which is to be stitched and the needle is the correct size for the thread.  If the needle is too fine for the thread and the material to be sewn, it is quite likely to break when crossing a seam.  If a large needle is used on fine material, the perforations made by the needle will show on the finished work.  A table of correct needles for the various sizes of silk and cotton is given in the table below, but may also be found in the instruction manual for each original Singer machine.  This table should be carefully followed when ordering needles and when changing them for various classes of work. Type of Fabric Thread Sizes Needle Sizes Machine Stitches Per Inch Hand Needle Sizes Filmy materials comparable to Net, Marquiesette, Organdy, Ninon 100 Cotton OO OOO Silk 9-10 Inside Seams ~ 20 Top Stitching ~ 30   10 Sheer materials comparable to Lawn, Dimity, Voile, Batiste, Chiffon, Rayon Sheer, Rayon Crepe 80 to 100 Cotton O Silk   10-11 Inside Seams ~ 16 Top Stitching ~ 20   9 Lightweight fabrics comparable to Gingham, Chambray, Sheer Wool Crepe, Taffeta 60 to 80 Cotton A and B Silk 12-14 Inside Seams ~ 12 Top Stitching ~ 18   8 Medium lightweight materials comparable to Poplin, Pique, Percale, Cretonne, Chintz, Faille Wool Flannel, Bengaline, Wool Crepe, Wool Jersey, Linen 50 to 70 Cotton B Silk 12-14 Inside Seams ~ 12 Top Stitching ~ 16   7 or 8 Medium heavy materials comparable to Crash, Gabardine, Rep, Corduroy, Velveteen, Linen 40 to 50 Cotton C Silk 14-16 Inside Seams ~ 10 Top Stitching ~ 12 6 Heavy materials comparable to Sailcloth, Denim, Ticking 30 to 40 Cotton 24 to 30 Cotton D Silk 16, 18* or 19 Inside Seams ~ 8 Top Stitching ~ 10   4 or 5 Very heavy materials comparable to overcoating 40 to 60 Linen 20 to 24 Cotton E Silk 18-21 Inside Seams ~ 6 Top Stitching ~ 8   3 Plastic Materials Mercerized Cotton   11-12 Inside Seams ~ 10 Top Stitching ~ 12   None * Size 18 is the largest size needle that can be used in the Singer Featherweight 221, 222, & 301 Machines