by Serena Smith

Changing your sewing machine needle should be more often than just when the needle breaks! I know, we all do it, me included. The needle stays in until it is bent or broken. But to get the best possible stitch results, you should change your needle every 10 hours of sewing.

If you are working on a sheer fabric or satin, you may need to change needles more frequently. A slightly dull needle or burr at the needle tip can cause runs and tears in the delicate fabric.

For machine embroidery, the needle may also need to be changed more often. Stop and really thing about how many times the needle penetrates the fabric -- many times! For every stitch, the needle is being inserted into the fabric. So if your design has 20,000 stitches in it, the needle has gone through the fabric at least 20,000 times. This dulls your needle in a hurry!

But, don't throw those old needles away; reuse them! Recycle used machine needles to hang artwork, quilts and photos. Needles create a much smaller hole than nails or thumbtacks and are longer than the average household nail. And surprisingly they hold quite a bit of weight. I've hung everything from picture frames to thread racks to calendars with old needles.