Sewing without a needle is not a typical task to do. If you’re looking to sew without a needle, be prepared with some emergency tricks. Maybe you’re on vacation and forgot to bring your needle, or you’re in a hurry and don’t have time to go shopping.
In this post, I will share emergency tricks and some industry-standard sewing methods or attaching fabrics for the best. All you need is home tools and some glue suitable for fabrics.
First, let’s try to make a homemade needle:
You can use:
- Safety Pin
- Fish Hook
- Paper Clip
- Bobby Pin
Using Safety Pin as Needle
A safety pin is a common product you can find easily at home.
It is already a needle, you just need something to cut the side and keep the round shape side along with the shiny edge. Take pliers and shrink the round edge as small as possible. The smallest it will get, the more perfect stitches you’ll have.
Using Fish Hook as a Needle
Fish hooks are a common tool, especially in town apartments. But as it has metal and a little round already at the bottom, it is another best tool to convert into a needle. You need pliers and squeeze the half-round part to make it fully round. The fish hook has a slightly curved edge, so you may need to straighten it a little bit to make the fine stitches. However, be careful not to cut your finger, as fish hooks are very sharp.
Paper Clip can be an alternative to needle
A paper clip is a plastic material tool with little wire inside. You need some patience to make it into a needle. You can break it if you are not careful. However, in an emergency, it will do the job for you. You need to hold an edge with pliers and give a round or oval shape for the thread to pop in.
Bobby Pin can work as a needle
Bobby Pin is a hairpin usually used to control small forehead hairs. This is the least suggested alternative to needles. This can be used to stitch big woolen fabrics or some bags. Here you don’t need to make any change in its shape, as we already have a small hole type for thread and a straight end to guide sewing. This is not ideal, but it can be handy occasionally for specific sewing needs.
For the Second Part, I will show you some industry-standard methods and tools that are used for sewing without a needle.
Use of Adhesive or Glue to join fabrics
There are lots of fabrics you won’t see any stitches. The Garment industry uses some special glue and heat method to achieve this kind of result. These kinds of glue are washable and better durable than stitches! If you need to add any extra piece of artwork, logo, flower type things on your fabric, you can use adhesives. It will save your time and make the work far better than a needle. If you want to make them permanent, like garment products, you need to use glue and heat it with iron so it sticks permanently. Here are some of the adhesives for fabric:
Instant Fabric and Leather Adhesive
This is a liquid glue and doesn’t need any heating. You just need 3-5 min to get it dried. You can even wash it after 15 min of use. It is so powerful that you can join leather with fabrics. Just like nail polish. You roll over to the spot you want two pieces to connect and you are good to go in 3 minutes. It’s permanent and instant.
Sticky Roll Tape
If you want a more smart gadget, this one is super cool to have. You don’t need to polish any glue with your hand. No need to wait either! You take the exact amount of tape and place it wisely, on top of the tape, just put whatever you like to join. You don’t need iron but this is not permanent and only suitable for the dry wash. If you want to stitch something other than regular washable clothes, you are good to go with this stylish hassle-free sticky tape.
Heavy Duty Spray adhesive
It can join wood. Metal and fabrics, but you don’t have precise control over it like the adhesive or glue tape. It creates a very strong bond and is kind of permanent.