Be careful of new Singer needles for your vintage Singers
 

The new Singer needles are thinner and won't tighten up enough to hold it in place. It could fall out and cause lots of damage to the bobbin race. Schmetz needles are a good replacement. http://www.novamontgomery.com/singer...-the-month.htm

Very pleased you posted this! Singer products have gone downhill over the last few years. Even the Singer bobbins sizes are off and can cause problems. Better off avoiding Both Singer needles and bobbins unless it's in the old packages. Superior needles which are made by Boye are great too to use.

I use Organ Titanium coated topstitch needles for all my machines. I order them when on sale from Superior Thread and Connecting Threads.

Thanks for the warning..I just bought some of the new needles..

A lot of the problem with the "Singer" bobbins is that they aren't. Even the Singer stores and other sewing machine shops are selling the cheaper bobbins that they can get from their non-Singer suppliers and they're all the same poor quality as the ones you find in Joanns, Walmart etc. There are (at least) 2 grades of non-Singer bobbins nowadays, and of course the cheaper ones make companies more money. I have bought new bobbins that work just fine in the vintage machines, but they're never the cheap ones. SM shops won't always tell you the difference, if they even carry both. I can only guess that the theory is that no one returns bobbins. I hope it's not that if the bobbins don't work, maybe they'll get a service out of it. :(

FYI, the "singer" name on notions doesn't belong to the singer sewing machine company anymore. that part of the company was splintered off a while ago. VSM - a big company - now makes machines for singer, viking, pfaff & white, but they sell singer-compatible needles, etc. under the brand name "inspira". I'd recommend schmetz, organ or klasse needles anyway. they fit nearly all domestic sewing machines, new & old singers included.

For quilting I like Superior's titanium top stitch needles.

Also remember that some vintage machines don't use the standard machine needle. I can't remember the exact machine but years ago when I worked for a sewing machine repair service we had lady who kept bring machine back in for repair, it seemed the machine would sew fine until she replaced needle then nothing but problems. She was replacing with standard needle and needed one that was slightly different in size. As we use more vintage machines this is something to keep in mind.

Thanks for posting this. I have a Singer 301 (slant) and was told that the Schmetz needles wouldn't work because the length is different. Can those who own the 301 tell me what needles (and I guess bobbins) now that you use?

That's 100% wrong. That's like saying a Ford (or Chevy, or Honda, or whatever) car won't fit your purposes. Which Ford? Which Schmetz needles? Schmetz makes all sorts of needles for different applications.

The 301 uses the standard 130/705 15x1 needle. In other words, the same needles you will find everywhere - including Joanns, Walmart, all of the Sewing Shops, Quilting shops, etc.

The harder part to find is the bobbins. They're not the most commonly used bobbins, so you do have to go somewhere like a Sewing Machine place (preferably Singer, because they're most likely to stock them) or some reputable person online, like Sew Classic. http://shop.sew-classic.com/Bobbins-...pack-45785.htm

The Singer 206 and 306 do use different needles. The 301 does not.