How to Use a Twin Needle

I love it when I master new sewing skills.  Being able to do something well makes the difference in my finished sewing, from looking a bit home-made to looking pretty damn good.  The Sewing with Knits course introduced me to how to use a twin needle, especially for hemming knit fabrics.  But it has other uses too.

how to use a twin needle

Do you remember my cowl neck dress?  I struggled so much finishing the hem on that dress that it just kept getting shorter and shorter as I cut off more botched attempts until eventually, I left the hem unfinished!  This was what prompted me to sign up for the Sewing with Knits course, and eventually, I was able to master the use of the twin or double-needle and now I hem my knit fabrics with confidence. The finish looks really good and it just shows how you can get a good result on knit fabrics without any special stitches or serger – the twin needle stitched hemline just uses a regular straight stitch!

The twin needle can be used for a neat finish to hems, cuffs, necklines, and sleeves on your stretch projects, but did you know that you can also get really pretty results using it with decorative stitches and different colored thread?

Take a look at the video I made showing you how to use, thread, and enjoy sewing with the twin needle.  It covers the knit fabric hem as well as decorative stitching.

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The twin needle is certainly one of my favorite sewing tools and you might even be able to come up with some more interesting ideas about how to use it.

P.S. – if you love the nifty needle threader I use in the video – you can find it here –Dritz Machine Needle Inserter and Threader

And the knit stay tape used can be found here.


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Nic
Nic

I’m inspired to try this, however I have an old inherited kenmore machine with a side threading needle. I’m having trouble finding a definitive answer on whether or not twin needles are made for this style of machine. Any insight?

Mayra Cecilia
Admin
Noble Member
Reply to  Nic

Hi NIC, no idea but what I would do is to use the same brand of needles (Schmeatz, Organ, Singer etc) you are using at the moment and try. All brands have a twin needle available.

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[…] you need some more guidance about how to use a twin needle, please check out our tutorial linked […]

Amanda Turner
Amanda Turner

Thanks for this really clear video. I’ve had my twin needle for at least 5 years and never actually used it! I’ll definitely give it a whirl this weekend now!

Gert Camp
Gert Camp

Thank you for the Brush-up Coarse! I’ve used the double needle in the past and am preparing to use is again on a project. Really appreciate the timing!!!

Bonnie Harcey
Bonnie Harcey

Thank you very much – stay stitching tape is a Wonderful addition!

Mari Price
Mari Price

I’ve just gotten used to using the twin needle when hemming leggings and t shirts and I love it!! Now I’ll have to try the decorative stitches which would be real cute on
sleeve hems and the bottom hem.

katxoxyahoocom
katxoxyahoocom

What a wonderful video! Now I want to go play with knits and my machine’s decorative stitches. This may just take my sewing to a whole new level!!!

Karyla Parrish
Karyla Parrish

What brand fusible tape did you use for this hem? I can’t seem to find it on your website. thanks

Mayra Cecilia
Admin
Noble Member
Reply to  Karyla Parrish

no longer have a deal with them, the delivery of the product was not as promised so can no longer support it.

Ilse Gräter
Ilse Gräter

Hi, this may be a silly question to some, but seeing as there are two spools of thread at the top, I assume it works fine with just one bobbin at the bottom, as my machine definitely cannot take two bobbins.

I have tried using the twin needle, but the thread keeps breaking – do you think my tension is a bit too stiff?

Thank you for your wonderful site, I learn so much from you two ladies!

Mayra Cecilia
Admin
Noble Member
Reply to  Ilse Gräter

Perhaps, do chack your instrcction manual to make sure you are not missing an extra step. Also, perhaps change the type of thread use Guttermann and see of that does the trick. In my Bernina and Janome it does.

Brenda
Brenda

Babylock has 8 thread servers that make some neat stitches.

melody
melody

Hi:) Just a quick question, is a serger the smae machine as an overlocker?

Mayra Cecilia
Admin
Noble Member
Reply to  melody

It is, you can find them with 3, 4 and 5 spools of threads. The term serger is widely used in America while the rest of the world used the term overlocker. Technically it means a serger performs an overlocking stitch. The more spools of threads you have the more things you can make with the machine.