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Schmetz needles are great. Especially their microtex needles, which I have taken to using above regular needles for all but looser-weave woollens.
However... Organ needles (made in Japan and, more recently, Vietnam) are easily as good and cheaper too. In the last year I've bought only Organ needles.
It must be said, the Japanese really know metallurgy.
I have a theory on this topic, if you are worried about the cost of needles or thread, you are making the wrong garments.
Needles and thread, being indispensable, are the most used; so if I can get the same quality for less, the money saved can go elsewhere. If I can save €3 on a box of machine silk reels, I'll do it. It's good housekeeping.
Certainly, machine silk is expensive. but one of the biggest problems in the far flung places is availability. I have trouble accessing bits and pieces.
Quote from: Schneiderfrei on March 22, 2016, 10:28:20 AM
Certainly, machine silk is expensive. but one of the biggest problems in the far flung places is availability. I have trouble accessing bits and pieces.
Indeed, and it's not just the far-flung places. Too often haberdashers try to pass off all kinds of thread as "buttonhole silk" or canvases not worthy of the name. It's only possible to get many things online. Needles are perhaps one of the few things you can still buy offline and not worry about the quality.