Hey Everyone, welcome back to Cool Tool Thursday.

Anyone who has taken a class from me can tell you that I love self-threading needles and am forever recommending them.

What is a self-threading needle?

It is a needle that has an opening at the top that looks like a 2 tyne fork with a groove between the tynes that the thread slides between down to the eye of the needle. These work great when the threads being used are short and would make threading a regular needle very difficult.

A self-threading needle

Close up of the eye of the needle

(By the way… Isn’t the pin cushion great?  It is a felted wool ball and the colours are just fantastic.)

I use these needles when I am tying off my threads after quilting. Yes, I am a purist and still tie off my threads and bury the ends. The first time I ever did this I used a regular needle and I thought boy this is a pain in the butt. I mentioned this to Helen, the shop owner in Yellowknife at the time, and she just laughed at me and then told me about the self-threading needles.

I immediately purchased some to add to my tool box and they have been a part of my kit ever since. Now, there are good ones and there are not so good ones. The good ones rarely cut the thread as it is being slid into the eye of the needle whereas the not so good ones often cut the threads leaving not enough to do anything with. The rayon and polyester threads are the worst for being cut as they slide into the end. Some of the needles are sharper and not finished as nicely. There always seems to be a little bit of fraying of any thread due to the friction of it sliding between the tynes.

How to use the self-threading needle

Place the thread at the top of the needle between the tynes.

Thread sitting at the top of the needle

Pull the thread down into the needle so it sits in the eye.

Thread in the eye of the needle

My two favourite brands are Clover and Bohin. They each have varying sizes of needles in their packages which is great depending on the weight of thread being used.

So. Will I ever deviate from how I finish off my ends? Probably not. In fact, the other day I did decide to try a new method only to discover that one of my threads wasn’t secured and started to unravel. That just confirms to me that I will still put in the time and effort to tie off my threads the old fashioned way.

Happy Quilting!

Disclosure Note: I buy and use the products mentioned in this post and write about them without influence from the designer or any other commercial interests. I have included links to the products on Amazon.com and may receive a small commission if you purchase from these links. This doesn’t cost you any more to purchase these items but it does help me maintain this website, so I hope that you will please use these links.