If you’ve ever genuinely given up on your sewing or embroidery project because you just can’t thread the darn needle, then you’ll be pleased to know there is more than one way to do it.

We share our tips for threading a needle with ease in this informative article. 

Before You Start 

You need to make sure you have the right type of needle for the thread you are using. Since embroidery needles often have bigger eyes than other types of needles like those designed for quilting or general sewing.

You might think that this would make it easier to thread them, but the thickness of the thread is the reason that embroidery needles have bigger eyes.

Before you begin an embroidery project, you need to make sure that you have the right thickness of needle for the thread you are using. 

Next, you need to separate the strands of thread or floss without tangling them. The more you tug and pull the floss to get them apart, the more small fibers will break and split from the main strand.

This can make it harder to thread your needle, and it may also make your finished embroidered pattern look less neat. Not ideal. 

Now you’ve got some tangle-free embroidery thread and the right needle, let’s get threading. 

Technique 1: Adjust your grip

A lot of people try licking the thread to make it behave better, but this sometimes doesn’t work, and it’s kind of gross to boot.

Generally, the way people try to thread needles is to hold the needle eye in one hand, the thread in the other, and to try and stab the point of the protruding floss through the needle eye while squinting your own eyes.

This is not the best method of threading your needle, though, as the thread will flex when the needle puts pressure on it and can untwist and split whether it’s been thoroughly licked or not. 

The alternative to this is to pinch the end of the thread between your thumb and forefinger so that only the tiniest glimpse of thread is showing and then move the needle to the thread, not the other way around.

This means that the thread has nowhere to go except through the eye. After this, it’s a little tricky to master the technique of rolling your finger and thumb together, so the nail tips are almost touching.

Doing this, while continuing to move your needle through the passage between finger and thumb, should encourage the thread through the eye enough that you can pull it through manually. 

Technique 2: Use the right tool

If you have never heard of a needle threader, then we have this to say: you poor soul. They are included in most sewing kits, but of course, if you don’t know what it is then you won’t be using it. Fortunately, they are very easy to use, although they may be slightly harder with thick embroidering floss.

They aren’t the most sturdy of tools, so they can easily break if too much strain is put on them. Still, they are very simple to use if you follow these simple steps:

1. Hold your needle between your thumb and forefinger. Hold it straight up with the eye at the top.
2. Hold your needle threader in the other hand, and pass the diamond-shaped wire through the eye of the needle. 
3. Once the diamond shape is completely passed through the needle eye so that the needle rests between the wire and where the wire meets the metal fob (this usually has a profile face on it). Now you take your thread and put the end through the diamond-shaped opening between the two sides of the wire. If the opening is not big enough, gently pressing your fingertip to the pointed top of the diamond shape will help it open up more, as the wire is very flexible.
4. You will want at least two or three inches of thread or floss to be threaded through the diamond. Then gently pull the metal fob end of the needle threader tool. The wires that form the diamond should close together as they pass through the eye of the needle, with the thread still inside. Keep pulling the needle threader until the thread strand has left the opening of the needle threader. You should now have a beautifully threaded needle without any blood spilled or curse words used. 

With these two techniques in your arsenal, you should never struggle to thread your needle again.

If for some reason, you can’t get to grips with either of these methods, then our best advice to you is to use a little beeswax to condition the end of your embroidery floss instead of using your own bodily fluids.

It’s more hygienic, and it won’t distress the thread as much as constant licking will. 

Final Thoughts

One thing you really ought to know about threading embroidery thread is that there are different types of embroidery floss. Some types can be divided into several strands for more precise work, while if you try to split others you’re sure to end up with a nasty mess.

The most common thread for embroidery is 6-strand cotton floss. If you look carefully at your thread, you might see that each strand is made of smaller ones all twisted together. That means you probably have 6-strand cotton floss. 

Choosing how many strands to use at any given time can be confusing. You will need to ask yourself, for every part of your project, how many strands do I need?

Is it delicate work, or do you want a block of color? Also, consider how loose a weave your fabric is. If it is loose like cross-stitch canvas then using the whole six strands might suit, otherwise, less is more. 

From experience, we suggest that for most standard tasks that 2-4 strands of embroidery floss will be sufficient for most types of stitches, but the fewer you use, the thinner your overall strand will be and therefore the easier it will be to thread it through the needle eye.

If you’re not sure how many to use for each part of your project, just ask yourself which parts you want to draw the viewer’s eye to? Which parts do you want to pop off the material and stand out? Those are likely to involve colonial knots, French knots, or woven wheel roses.

Those are the types of stitches commonly used with all 6 strands of floss to make the detail stand out. Feel free to experiment with different thicknesses of your floss and see what a difference it makes.