Quick Tip: Cutting Your Thread

Threading a needle without a needle threader (whether by hand or machine) can be a little frustrating, especially as our eyes get older. Sometimes I don't want to go through the extra steps of using a needle threader, for various reasons.

 Trimming the end of the thread at an angle can help thread it more easily and quickly than not cutting it or even blunt cutting it.

 No cut is problematic because it is difficult to get the frayed end through the eye of the needle.

 Blunt cut is problematic because the thread will “puff out” a bit, making it a little bigger then the eye of the needle.

When cutting at an angle, I find it helpful to trim it in the direction the thread is spun (i.e., if the thread is spun to the right, then I trim it with my scissors tips angled up and to the left at 45 degrees, creating a cut that follows the threads directionality and causes less fraying).

It sounds more complicated than it is, but when I trim my thread ends like this, my thread pops right into my needle with no problems. Sometimes I can even get away with not wearing my glasses!