Colonial Needle Roxanne Sharps sz12 50/Tube Notion, Silver

In a decade when most things seem to be shoddily cranked out for maximum revenue, I was pleasantly surprised with these. They are exceptionally sharp and smooth and flex slightly without breaking. I'd trust these with super fine fabrics like silk.However, the eye is tiny. It's just about the diameter of an all-purpose thread. It is very difficult to thread. Also a thimble is not optional. Due to the tiny diameter the back end is quite sharp as well.

Perfect for what I needed to do my english paper peicing tiny sharp lil things .. But not much anyhting else

I am having a very hard time threading these needles. I purchased size 12 and find that I cannot use 40wt or 50wt thread because I can't get them threaded. I have tried using the clover needle threader (what a joke that was), a magnifying glass, putting fray check on the end of the thread to keep it from splitting and a wire needle threader. I ended up breaking the wire threader because it was too much to pull through the tiny eye. I tried several needles just to make sure it wasn't a faulty eye and had the same result with all of them.60 wt poly bobbin thread can be threaded with a bit of effort through the eye and 100wt silk thread should work too, but I really don't wish to quilt or hand piece with either of those. When finally did get the needle threaded with the 60wt, I found the needle sturdy and I really liked the way the needle glided through the fabric and I could load a lot more stitches on it than the size 10 or 11 needles. That's the only reason I'm giving them 3 stars.If anyone has experience on how to thread these needles with 50wt cotton thread, I'd certainly welcome suggestions.

These needles are not difficult to thread, and glide through even fine fabrics smoothly so that the stitching is even and near invisible. The quality is far superior to any others I've tried over the last 40 years.

These are a dream for hand-piecing quilts. I can load a lot more fabric on these at one time than the fatter needles I was using before. I have been having a really hard time threading these, however. I have to try about 20 times with my Clover threader to get the thread through, and it is often shredded when it goes through. I am using some Singer poly-cotton, however, and I have some cotton Aurifil on order. I hope that will solve the problem.

These needles are great. I will say they are a little smaller in length then I was expecting and take a little getting used to, but otherwise are great. I have found that the size lends to easily bending the needle--I stuff and hand sew a lot of toys closed and bending needles is pretty common.

Unable to thread needles, even needle threader can't get through the eye. Useless, but pretty vial.

I was extremely happy with this purchase. I'm looking forward to completing some fine applique in the near future.