Needles, bobbins, feet and parts
You inherited the machine. Not the manual.
Work out which needle, bobbin, presser foot or replacement part your machine takes, by checking what you have against published dimensions and the maker's own manual.
Every question on this site
13 guidesEach answer comes from the maker's or the standards body's own published documents, listed at the bottom of its page with the date we read them.
Needles
Which needle system, size and point your machine takes, including old and industrial needle numbers.
- Which needle, and what do the numbers mean?
130/705 H, 90/14, Universal, Jersey, Microtex. What the system number means, why the size is one number written twice, and how point type maps to how a fabric is constructed rather than what it is called.
- Plate says 16x231, 1738 (A) or DPx5? What to order
Match the needle name on an industrial machine (16x231, 1738 (A), 287 WH, 287 WK, DPx5 and more) to its current listing, and catch look-alikes that are different needles.
- Which twin needle fits my machine?
Find your machine's widest stitch, check what its manual says about twin needles, and match SCHMETZ's 1.6 to 8.0 mm spacings, or learn it can't take one.
- Which needle does your Brother serger take?
Brother's own 1034D and 1034DX manuals both specify SCHMETZ 130/705H, sized 80/12 to 90/14 by fabric weight, and where to check if your model differs.
Bobbins and presser feet
Bobbin classes and presser-foot shanks are not interchangeable. How to find the one your machine takes.
- Class 15, 15J, L or M?
They look identical in a photograph and are not interchangeable. How to measure the bobbin or the bobbin case you already have against published dimensions, and what a near-fit actually does to the machine.
- Will prewound bobbins work in my machine?
See what Brother, Janome, Husqvarna Viking, Pfaff and Singer say about which bobbins to use, which models have a maker-listed prewound, and what to check before you buy.
- Does "universal" mean mine?
Shank height is not the first thing to check. The four properties of your machine that decide whether a foot fits and runs safely, in the order that matters, and why some feet strike the needle.
- Which Janome presser foot category is mine?
Work out your Janome's bobbin type, maximum stitch width and shank height using Janome's own guide, then match a specific foot's part number to your model.
- Which presser feet work with Pfaff IDT?
Pfaff's manual requires a center-back cutout for IDT to engage. See the physical test, the 640's presser-foot list, and how to find your machine's group.
Parts for specific machines
What a particular machine, or a serger, needs when a part wears out.
- What does a Singer Heavy Duty take?
Bobbins, feet and needles for the Heavy Duty 4411, 4423, 4432, 4452 and 45xx models, from Singer's own manuals and pages, and where to check what they leave out.
- Serger chewing the edge: adjust, or buy a knife?
What five Janome, Brother and SINGER manuals say when a serger stops cutting cleanly: the checks to make first, which knife each covers, the setting for a new one and where to ask for it.
- Is the fitted needle plate right for this stitch?
How to tell whether a single-hole or slotted needle plate is safe for the stitch you want, using manufacturer safety instructions, settings and a handwheel test.
- Which Light Bulb Does My Sewing Machine Take?
Find the release action, wattage ceiling and voltage your manual states for the bulb behind the face plate, and what's unresolved about LED swaps.
Five things the package labels mean
Most of the confusion here is notation rather than mechanics. These come from needle makers' and machine makers' own published references.
Nearly every home sewing machine takes the same needle. SCHMETZ states that needle system 130/705 H "is used by 99% of all home sewing machines"; 130/705 means the shank has a flat side, and the H is from Hohlkehle, German for the scarf — the small indentation behind the eye. 15x1 H and HAx1 are cross-references for that same needle, so a package marked with any of the three is the same thing. The exception that catches people is a serger: SCHMETZ documents that newer sergers use 130/705 H, older ones use BLx1 or DCx1, and many overlock and coverlock machines use ELx705, which has a second groove a home needle does not have.
The two numbers on a needle package are one needle described twice. The first is the metric NM size — the blade diameter in hundredths of a millimeter, a European designation established in 1942 — so 80 means 0.80 mm. The second is the older American (Singer) number. 80/12 is a single needle, not a choice. Groz-Beckert's published range runs Nm 55/7, 60/8, 65/9, 70/10, 75/11, 80/12, 85/13, 90/14, 100/16 and 110/18.
Bobbin class is set by machine model, not by brand. In a published 580-row machine-to-bobbin chart, Bernina's 440 and 440QE take Class 15 while the 450 takes L-style; the 163 takes Class 15 while the 165 Artista takes L-style; Singer's 221 and 222 Featherweights take a bobbin unique to models 221, 221K, 222 and 301. Across that chart roughly 315 rows are Class 15, 180 L-style and 70 M-style. Knowing you own "a Singer" or "a Bernina" does not tell you which bobbin to buy.
Two bobbins can share a class name and still not substitute. SINGER's own support page gives Class 15 transparent as 7/16" (12 mm) tall and 13/16" (21 mm) across with completely flat ends, and Class 15J as 6/16" (11 mm) tall and 3/4" (20 mm) across with tops and bottoms "very slightly curved" — a one-millimeter difference in each direction. SINGER also says not to substitute Class 15 metal for Class 15 transparent, or the reverse, even though both are "Class 15".
Before you buy a presser foot, three things about your machine decide the fit — and shank height is not the first one. Janome's own quick-reference guide asks, in order: where do you insert your bobbin (horizontal rotary hook, or front-loading vertical oscillating hook); what is the maximum stitch width (9 mm, 7 mm or 5 mm — set the machine to maximum, sew a zig-zag, and measure it); and only then shank height, which the guide says "is only needed if you require a presser foot that attaches directly to the presser foot bar." Janome names its own high-shank exceptions: every machine with AcuFeed, plus the MC6650, MC9850 and Skyline S5.
Who this is for
Home sewists who need to buy a consumable or accessory for a sewing machine they already own — disproportionately an inherited or secondhand machine that arrived with no manual, no original box and no bobbins. Secondary: people who own a manual but cannot map what a package says (130/705 H, 15J, "low shank", 90/14) onto what their machine needs.