Well – who knew?  There IS a difference between regular sewing needles and machine embroidery needles. I was studying my book, Machine Embroidery on Difficult Fabrics by  Deborah Jones and in it she describes the difference between regular sewing needles and machine embroidery needles.

(Brief point of admission here… I didn’t know there was a difference. Until I started reading Jones’ book – the only type of needles I was familiar with were ballpoint needles, regular sewing needles and denim needles).

So here’s the difference… embroidery needles have a larger eye which allows the thread to pass through more readily. Today when embroidering (using regular sewing needles) I had a couple of moments where there were some loose stitches. Was it because of my inappropriate needle choice?

One great point that Ms. Jones makes about needles is – if needle type did not make a difference then why would manufactures sell so many different types?