Needle minders seem to be popping up in my instagram feed and as I’m browsing online embroidery shops more and more. But what is a needle minder and how useful are they?
Needle minders contain two magnetic parts, one which goes on top of your fabric and one that goes below the fabric. The magnets hold the top part snug to the fabric. You then pop your needle on to the top part of the needle minder when you are not working with it and it is attracted to the magnet.
If you are forever losing your needle then this may be a great solution for you. But the attraction to the needle generally isn’t very strong (otherwise you’d be wresting with it to get your needle back!) so it is still possible to knock the needle off the minder, especially if you put your project in a bag between stitching sessions or you keep turning your work over.
One of the reasons for using a needle minder is so that you don’t leave holes in your fabric if you weave your needle through the fabric when not working with it. But I always do this on the fabric outside of the hoop or somewhere inside the hoop that I know will be covered with stitches.
You also need to think about where you place the needle minder. Outside of the hoop the weight of the needle minder can be an issue. Inside the hoop, you shouldn’t get any marks from the needle minder, but I would also make sure I place it somewhere I will cover with stitches just in case.
Personally I only use a needle minder if I’m working on a large piece which makes it harder to secure my needle on the fabric outside the hoop. But I encourage you to try one out especially if you are always losing needles!