The Anatomy of a Household Sewing Machine Needle

The uppermost part of a sewing machine needle — the section that fits into the machine's needle bar — is called the shank. SCHMETZ household needles feature a flat shank, ensuring the needle always sits in the correct position and cannot be inserted the wrong way. The butt end is also bevelled, making insertion into the needle bar easier.

The colour marking on the shoulder allows you to identify the needle type and size at a glance.

The long groove runs along the blade to protect the thread, preventing it from being damaged as it passes through the fabric.

The scarf is a cut-away section above the eye that gives the hook extra clearance, making it easier to catch the thread loop and form a stitch.

The thread passes through the eye of the needle. Download our Needle ABC for an overview of the various eye types available.

The needle point and tip shape varies by needle type, ensuring the needle is always well matched to the fabric being sewn.

---

Needle Sizing

The NM number represents the blade diameter in millimetres multiplied by 100 — so a needle with a blade diameter of 0.75 mm is designated NM 75. The NM sizing standard is defined in DIN 5325, published in 1953, which brought together and replaced approximately 40 different sizing systems that were in use at the time, standardising them under the metric needle sizing concept (NM).

The SIZE number was originally devised by Singer and remains in common use in various English-speaking and Asian countries.

A cross-reference of both sizing systems is shown below:

NM	SIZE
60	8
65	9
70	10
75	11
80	12
90	14
100	16
110	18
120	19
130	21