What hand needles are useful for a running stitch?
 

It finally happened. I outgrew my tools. :) My cheap hand needles are too blunt at the tips and not enough thinness to pick up running stitches on woven cotton. The shape is altogether wrong. Should I look for a particular kind of needle class? I know not to buy crewel. Or will any packet of needles from the quilt shop do the job? It is funny though. I do have some vintage needles from the 1950s or so and the shape is better. I have no idea whether they were cheap door to door sales needles or specialty needles though. And they are all too large and leave too much of a hole in the fabric. I checked.

I have these needles for my Redwork for working with perle cotton thread. They have a nice size eye for easy threading but are super sharp and thin. I use them for all my hand sewing now.[ATTACH=CONFIG]528757[/ATTACH]

I use the John James Embroidery needles, too, but in a size 10. Or sometimes if I'm just doing some detail (like leaf veins) while appliqueing, I just use the same Milliner 10 that I use for appliqué.

I hand piece and sew binding using my applique needles. I believe sharps are considered an all-purpose sewing needle.

I usually grab for the longest needle I have.

For most of my hand sewing I usually end up grabbing my betweens regardless of what hand sewing I'm doing. They are generally the handiest to me. Unless it's a really odd project. I use betweens for running stitches; quilting; stitching binding; hemming pants; you name it. I use Roxanne betweens normally either size #10 or #11. I do have some #12's but they are really, really tiny!

Agree with NJQuilter on betweens. I use them on just about everything.

I'm really happy you asked this question - I was hand sewing a binding last week and it occurred to me that there must be better needles out there than the Walmart specials that I have. Mine are getting dull, if they were ever sharp to begin with! Thanks for the info!

I usually get the variety pack of needles in the little circular plastic case.
The longer and skinnier the needle, the better satisfied I am with using it for most hand stitching.

The sharpest, slickest needles I have ever used are Hiroshima Tulips. They come in betweens and others.