Needles
Which needles does a Brother serger take? The 1034D and 1034DX manuals both point to SCHMETZ 130/705H
After reading this you will know the exact needle system and size Brother's own 1034D and 1034DX manuals call for, and how to match the size to your fabric. If your Brother serger turns out to be a different model, you will know exactly where in its manual to look instead of guessing from the brand.
The short answer
Brother's own manuals for the 1034D and the 1034DX agree, and each says so twice. Both name the needle system as SCHMETZ 130/705H, the same system an ordinary home sewing machine uses, not a needle built just for sergers. The 1034D's User's Guide states this in the Needle section of Chapter 1, then again on the Machine Specifications page near the back. The 1034DX's Operation Manual, a separate document Brother publishes for that model, says the same thing in its own Needle section and its own Specifications page.
The needle set in the accessory bag has four needles: two of size 80/12 and two of size 90/14. Both manuals give that same count.
If you do not know whether your machine is the plain 1034D or the 1034DX, that uncertainty does not change anything here. Both manuals land on the identical system and the identical two sizes. What does matter is whether your machine is a 1034D or 1034DX at all, because a different Brother serger model is not guaranteed to match. See "If your machine isn't a 1034D or 1034DX," below.
Why the product page doesn't say
Brother's brother-usa.com page for the 1034D is thorough about everything except this: it gives the stitching speed, the stitch types, the stitch-width range, the weight and the voltage, and it lists a needle set among the contents of the accessory bag, but it never names the system or the sizes. The 1034DX's page is shorter and only says the machine takes a standard sewing-machine needle, again without naming which one. Brother's Consumables and Options listing for the 1034D does not fill the gap either; the only option it shows is a serger foot, not a needle product to check a number against. The system exists only in the instruction manual. For how to read the rest of a needle package once you know the system to look for, see our guide to needle systems, sizes and points.
Which size, by fabric
The system stays the same across fabrics; the size is what changes. Brother's Comparison Chart of Sewing Materials, Threads and Needles, printed on page 25 of the 1034D manual, sets out the sizes by fabric weight.
| Fabric weight | Example fabrics | Stitch | Needle (system SCHMETZ 130/705H) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Light | Crepe de chine, georgette, lawn, organdy, tricot | Overlock stitch | Size 70/10 or 80/12 |
| Light | Crepe de chine, georgette, lawn, organdy | Narrow or rolled hem stitch | Size 70/10 or 80/12 |
| Medium | Poplin, gingham, seersucker, gabardine, serge, knit fabrics | Overlock stitch | Size 80/12 or 90/14 |
| Heavy | Cashmere, tweed, denim, jersey | Overlock stitch | Size 90/14 |
That is the full chart Brother publishes for this model. It does not break out a separate size for rolled-hem work on medium or heavy fabric, only for light.
The same system on two other Brother sergers
The 1034D and 1034DX are not the only Brother home serger with a needle chart Brother has made public. A different model, the DZ1234, has its own published answer, not in a manual this time but on a Brother support page built specifically for that model's fabric-and-needle chart. It gives the same system, 130/705H, at size 80/12 for fine fabric, 80/12 or 90/14 for medium, and 90/14 for heavy.
| Model | Needle system | Sizes given | Where Brother states it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1034D | SCHMETZ 130/705H | 80/12 and 90/14 | User's Guide: "Needle" (Chapter 1, p.5) and "Machine Specifications" (Chapter 18, p.59) |
| 1034DX | 130/705H | 80/12 and 90/14, plus a ball-point 90/14 noted for reducing material breakage | Operation Manual: "Needle" (Chapter 1, p.13) and "Specifications" (p.34) |
| DZ1234 | 130/705H | 80/12 for fine fabric, 80/12 or 90/14 for medium, 90/14 for heavy | Brother's published materials, thread and needle support page for that model |
If your machine isn't a 1034D or 1034DX
Do not carry this answer over to a different Brother serger just because the brand matches. SCHMETZ, which makes the needle, is direct about this on its own page about serger needles: many newer sergers do use 130/705H, but some older sergers are built for needle systems called BLX1 or DCX1 instead, and overlock or coverlock machines often take a needle family called ELx705. That page makes the same point three separate times: check the owner's manual for your exact machine. A separate page on SCHMETZ's site, its FAQ, adds that the ELx705 needle should not go in a home sewing machine.
A 130/705H needle and an ELx705 needle are not interchangeable. If a machine's manual specifies ELx705, a 130/705H is the wrong needle for it, and the reverse is equally true.
The manuals we opened make that easy to check, because the answer sits in the same two places both times: a section titled Needle, early on, grouped with the other parts descriptions, and again under Specifications near the end. If Brother published a manual for your model, its support site carries it under that exact model number, not the general product family. And if the box, papers and model number are all gone, Brother's own guidance for finding a serial number says to look on the back of the machine for a silver sticker under the barcode; the number starts with the letter U. That number, together with whatever name is stamped on the machine itself, is what to give a dealer or Brother support if you need help identifying exactly what you own.
One note that's only in the newer manual
The 1034DX manual carries a detail the 1034D's does not: a note in its Needle section that says, in Brother's own words, that using a 130/705H SUK needle, size 90/14, ball point, can reduce what the manual calls material breakage. The note does not say more about what that breakage looks like or which fabrics cause it. The 1034D's own manual has no equivalent note, so Brother has not published that recommendation for that exact model. The SUK needle's name keeps the same 130/705H prefix as the needle both manuals already call for; whether that makes it a safe substitute on the 1034D specifically is this page's own reading of Brother's naming, not something either manual states.
Changing it
Both manuals describe the same procedure. Turn the machine off first. Turn the hand wheel until the needle is at its highest point. Loosen the needle set screw with the hexagonal driver that comes in the accessory bag, and pull the needle out. To fit a new one, hold it with its flat side facing away from you and push it up as far as it will go before tightening the same screw. On a two-needle setup, one screw holds both needles, so loosening it to change one loosens both, and once they are both back in correctly, the right-hand needle sits a little lower than the left.
None of this carries over to a shop or industrial overlocker; that is a different needle world, covered in our industrial needle cross-reference. And if the actual complaint is a ragged, untrimmed edge rather than anything about the needle, that is a knife problem, not this one; see our guide to serger cutting problems, which draws on the same 1034D manual for its knife-adjustment figures.
Check it on your own equipment
These take you to the manufacturers and standards bodies the page draws on, so you can look up your exact model.
- Official support page
Brother's 1034D manuals page (User's Guide download) (opens in a new tab)Brother's own manuals list for the 1034D, with the User's Guide PDF (8.79 MB) as a direct download. Chapter 1's "Needle" section, page 5, and Chapter 18's "Machine Specifications," page 59, both name SCHMETZ 130/705H and the 80/12 and 90/14 sizes. — support.brother.com - Official support page
Brother's 1034DX manuals page (Operation Manual download) (opens in a new tab)The Operation Manual PDF (4.26 MB) for the 1034DX specifically. Its own "Needle" section, page 13, and "Specifications," page 34, both give 130/705H at 80/12 and 90/14, plus a ball-point 90/14 note about reducing material breakage that the 1034D's manual does not carry. — support.brother.com - Manufacturer specification
SCHMETZ's serger needle systems, explained by the needle maker (opens in a new tab)The split between 130/705H, BLX1, DCX1 and the ELx705 family across different serger and overlock designs, with the repeated instruction to confirm against your own owner's manual. Use this if your machine is not a 1034D or 1034DX. — www.schmetzneedles.com - Official support page
Brother: how to find your machine's serial number (opens in a new tab)Where the serial number sticker sits on the back of the machine and what it looks like, for identifying your exact model when the box and papers are gone. — help.brother-usa.com
What this page does not tell you
- Checked directly: the 1034D and 1034DX manuals and their Specifications pages. Not checked: any other Brother serger model; the DZ1234 support page is cited as a third confirming data point, not a survey of Brother's full serger lineup.
- The 1034D manual's accessory-list page (page 4) has one instance that reads '130/705M' rather than '130/705H'. Every other mention across both manuals (four separate instances, including both models' dedicated Needle and Specifications sections) reads '130/705H' clearly. Treated as a scan or print inconsistency on that one line, not as a second real needle system, given the weight of the other four mentions.
- The 130/705H SUK ball-point note appears only in the 1034DX manual, and neither manual says whether it fits or is recommended for the 1034D. The page notes only that Brother's own name for it keeps the same 130/705H prefix as the needle both manuals already call for — this page's own reading of that naming, not a stated fit from Brother.
- Brother's own chart lists five fabrics for the light-fabric overlock-stitch row but only four for the light-fabric narrow/rolled-hem row directly below it, omitting tricot. That is Brother's own chart as printed on page 25, not a transcription error here; the needle system and size are identical either way.
Sources
12 documents, each with the facts on this page it supports. Manufacturers revise specifications, so every source is dated — open it before you buy.
- The 1034D's User's Guide says the machine uses a standard home sewing machine needle and names the recommended needle as SCHMETZ 130/705H.
- The 1034D's Machine Specifications page repeats the needle as SCHMETZ 130/705H and lists the needle set as SCHMETZ 130/705H with two size 80 and two size 90 needles.
- The 1034D's accessories list includes a needle set among the included accessories, given as two needles of size 80/12 and two of size 90/14.
- The 1034D's Comparison Chart of Sewing Materials, Threads and Needles gives light materials (crepe de chine, georgette, lawn, organdy, tricot) an overlock stitch with a SCHMETZ 130/705H needle in size 70 or 80.
- The same chart's light-materials narrow/rolled-hem row lists only four of those five fabrics — crepe de chine, georgette, lawn and organdy — omitting tricot, with the same SCHMETZ 130/705H needle in size 70 or 80.
- The same chart gives medium materials (poplin, gingham, seersucker, gabardine, serge, knitted) an overlock stitch with a SCHMETZ 130/705H needle in size 80 or 90, and heavy materials (cashmere, tweed, denim, jersey) an overlock stitch with a SCHMETZ 130/705H needle in size 90.
- On the 1034D, one needle set screw holds both needles on two-needle setups, and once both needles are correctly inserted the right needle sits slightly lower than the left.
- The 1034D manual's needle removal and installation steps are: power off, hand wheel turned until the needle bar is at its highest point, needle set screw loosened with the included hexagonal wrench to remove the needle, and a new needle inserted flat side away from the sewer, pushed up as far as it will go, before the screw is retightened.
- The 1034DX's Operation Manual says the machine uses a standard home sewing machine needle and names the recommended needle as 130/705H, in size 80 or 90.
- The same 1034DX Needle section adds that using a 130/705H SUK ball point needle in size 90 can reduce material breakage, and names this only for that one size; it does not name any specific fabric type.
- Brother's own naming for the 1034DX's ball-point option, '130/705H SUK,' keeps the same '130/705H' prefix as the base needle both the 1034D and 1034DX manuals call for; neither manual states whether that variant fits or is recommended for the 1034D specifically.
- The 1034DX's Specifications page repeats the needle as 130/705H and gives the needle set as 130/705H with two size 80 and two size 90 needles.
- The 1034DX manual's own needle removal and installation steps match the 1034D's: power off, hand wheel to the highest needle position, needle set screw loosened with the included hexagonal driver to remove, flat side away from the installer and pushed up as far as it goes to insert, screw retightened; a note adds that when correctly inserted the right needle sits slightly lower than the left.
- Brother's brother-usa.com page for the 1034D lists full specifications (1,300 stitches per minute; 4-thread and 3-thread overlock, narrow hem, rolled hem and ribbon lock stitches; stitch width 3.00-7.00 mm; 13.45 lbs; 110V) and lists a needle set among accessory-bag contents, without naming the needle system or size anywhere on the page.
- Brother's brother-usa.com page for the 1034DX exists as a separate current product page and states only that the machine uses standard sewing machine needles, without naming a system or size.
- Brother's Consumables and Options page for the 1034D lists exactly one item, an optional serger/overlock foot, and no needle product.
- Brother's manuals page for the 1034D, under product code hf_1034deus, lists the User's Guide PDF (8.79 MB) and a separate Serger Techniques guide (2.66 MB).
- Brother's manuals page for the 1034DX, under product code hf_1034dxeus, lists the Operation Manual PDF (4.26 MB) as its own document, separate from the 1034D's User's Guide.
- SCHMETZ's own page on serger needles states that many newer sergers use home sewing needle system 130/705H, that some older sergers use needle systems BLX1 or DCX1, and that ELx705, ELx705CF and ELx705CF SUK are used on overlock or coverlock machines; the page repeats the instruction to check the owner's manual three times.
- Across three independently published Brother documents for three different home serger models (the 1034D manual, the 1034DX manual, and the DZ1234 support page), the stated needle system is consistently SCHMETZ 130/705H, sized between 80/12 and 90/14 by fabric weight; this pattern is not established for Brother serger models beyond these three, and SCHMETZ's own page confirms other systems exist on other sergers.
- A separate SCHMETZ FAQ page states that its ELx705 needle should not be used in home sewing machines, describing it as a serger/overlock needle with two grooves for specialty stitches.
- SCHMETZ's own needle guide lists its Universal needle line, the point type sold under the 130/705H system, in sizes from 60/8 through 120/19 plus Assorted, Twin and Triple, including 80/12 and 90/14.
- Brother's published support page for the DZ1234 serger's materials-thread-needle chart gives 130/705H at size 80 for fine materials, 80 or 90 for medium materials, and 90 for heavy materials.
- Brother's serial-number support answer lists the 1034D and 1034DX among the covered models and says the serial number is on a silver sticker on the back of the machine, under the barcode, starting with the letter U.