I was watching a sewing show one time about hand sewing. It may even have been on Alex Anderson's show. But they said when threading a hand sewing needle, thread the needle before you cut the thread off the spool. That way you will ALWAYS thread the needle in the right direction. There is a direction to the way thread is wound, I assume this applies mainly to thread meant for hand quilting. I tried this when trying some needle-turn, and by golly it worked. I have never forgotten that rule