I LOVE darning with ball-tip needles.

I first tried them at Christmas while honeycomb-darning some thin cotton socks (10 out of 10, would recommend). Soon I was begging family members for more holey socks to darn, which was extremely out of character for me. The ball tips glide through machine-knit fabric like butter, and it didn’t take long before I was high on Christmas spirit.

Each needle has a tiny ball at the tip that helps it navigate to exactly the right spot, preventing unintentional yarn splitting when darning, and creating a smoother stitching experience on T-shirts and other machine knits.

These needles work best with:

• thin mending yarn and thread: Mend-its, Laine Saint-Pierre mending yarn, Cottage Garden Threads (1-4 strands) and Scanfil cotton mending yarn 
• thin and medium-weight knit fabrics: socks, T-shirts, machine-knit jumpers and woollen thermal layers
• linen and Aida cloth

(They make kind of a ‘thunk’ sound and sensation when piercing tightly woven cotton and denim and aren’t enjoyable to use or recommended on these fabrics.)

Each pack contains two needles of the same size. The sizing works in the opposite way you would imagine: the smaller the size number, the longer the needle.

• Size 24 is 40mm long
• Size 26 is 37mm long
• Size 28 is 34mm long

These needles have a smaller eye than darning or tapestry needles you might be used to. They are compatible with the wire-bow needle threader. Size 24 (the largest needle) can fit my favourite Prym needle threader if you wiggle it a bit, but the other sizes won’t.

If you’re brand new to darning or have difficulty threading a needle without a threader, I recommend waxing your thread or trying the Prym cotton darners, yarn darners or Combi Card instead.

Made in Germany and packaged in a reusable hard-plastic case with paper and polystyrene inserts by the manufacturer.

Want to see how it’s done? Modern Mending the book includes 32 pages of darning instructions and 18 pages of hand-stitching instructions, with photographs and illustrated diagrams.

 

Slow mode

This shop is in slow mode so I can enjoy a better work-life integration as a shop owner and mum of two tiny tots. Your patience and understanding are greatly appreciated.

I'm currently dispatching orders once a week; place your order by 5pm Thursday Melbourne time (AEDT/AEST) for dispatch the next day (Friday).

Australia Post has been experiencing significant delays. If you select Express Post at checkout, it will speed up Australia Post's delivery timeframe but won't speed up my process.

After your order has been packed, you will receive an email notification with your Australia Post tracking number, which you can use to check on the delivery status of your order.

Local delivery

Customers in Northcote, Thornbury and nearby suburbs (subject to capacity) can select local delivery at checkout. Local delivery is extra-slow and coincides with my pram-walking/kid-wrangling schedule, up to one week after purchase. ٩(｡•́‿•̀｡)۶