I'm a little late in responding, but I think needles are a personal thing. I personally like Clover brand in piecing, quilting and applique because they don't bend as easily as other brands I've used. I use John James embroidery needles. But I must tell you that I've tried to hand sew on batiks, and I don't think you will find any hand needle sharp enough to make sewing easy. I strongly suggest sewing batiks by machine rather than hand. I hand quilted a quilt with batiks in it, and swore I would never do that again.