Core77

A needle you can thread with your eyes closed

By Core Jr - July 13, 2010

in Object Culture

Guest post by Scott Christensen.

What invention could be more straightforward than a needle? Maybe a hammer (stick with a rock attached) or a knife (sharp rock or bone). Ancient tools get a long time to evolve during which they generally improve and bugs work themselves out. Gimmicks get adopted and abandoned. Forms become simpler.

The common hand sewing needle would seem to be fully evolved from the thorn or fish bone that it started as. But one bug remains. Older eyes have difficulty seeing well enough to thread a needle. Cave men and women never lived to be old enough to have this problem. But Pam Turner did. The first time inventor from Minnesota had secretly laughed when her mother had trouble threading a needle in her middle years. But when she found herself struggling with same problem, she did that cool thing inventors do; she asked why. And she fixed it. After millennia of existence as a pokey thing with a hole in it, the hand sewing needle has now evolved into a pokey thing with an ingenious thread-by-feel side-opening slot.

Ms. Turner's operation is totally home-grown DIY invention. She began prototyping and sharpening all the needles herself. She buys machine time by the hour from a shop that has theprecision equipment to cut the unique slot that makes theneedlework.

The Spiral Eye side threading needlesI ordered arrived in the mail a couple days after ordering them online from the inventors website. They're small, so the packaging is minimal: a greeting card. Each needle is pushed into a small felt dot stuck to a business card which is slipped into a small plastic sleeve inside the card.She designed all this herself, though she considers herself an inventor more than a designer. (The website could use some help.)

So do they work? Yes. It's a really neat little trick. After one try I had the hang of the technique: Loop the thread over the needle. Slide toward the eye till you feel it catch. Pull into the slot. Then pull toward the end. Presto!

I initially thought the price would be her major challenge to solve. The needles are relatively expensive ($5-8 each) compared to the $2-for-20, chinese type we commonly see, but Pam explained to me that before mass production made them almost too cheap to meter, needles were prized tools not unlike woodworking hand tools. A stitcher might have one or two and take good care of them, sharpening them when needed, and keeping them in a case to avoid damage or loss.And many other kinds of specialty needles are similarly priced.

She is talking with some interested producers of surgical needles. Already she has sold quite few to doctors, who find it useful to be able to clip onto the middle of a thread during stitching, which is impossible with a conventional needle. This is one reason they are made of surgical stainless steel rather than nickel plated. This matters to surgeons and to people with sensitivity to nickel. And if it makes you feel better about the investment, Pam says they are the only needles made in the USA.

Check out the USPTO's new e-newsletter for the independent inventor community where I found this story.

And maybe this longish (14min) video about the many steps involved in making quality English sewing needles.

o

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fanniegirlny

13 years ago

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I. LOVE. IT!!!
They are absolutely fabulous!

I really love the look. Sharp, smart, sophisticated, if a little fashion forward(nothing wrong with that), something I would wear .
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Pythittee

14 years ago

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14 years ago

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akmclean

14 years ago

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I purchased the set a year or so ago. It was an expensive purchase for 3 needles. They are okay to use, just okay. The head of the needle is larger (I'm guessing for stability) and not as comfortable to use. The main problem I had with them though is they come unthreaded all the time. I've been sewing for 40+ years and was so excited to see these and it was a splurge for me to get them. I have a touch arthritis in my hands so something that isn't comfortable to use just isn't. I will keep them and probably try them again but I certainly wouldn't purchase them again. Your mileage may vary~
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John Cromie

14 years ago

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@Rahu Deshpande If you actually read her site, you'd see your idea was one of her failed prototypes. So the difference between your idea and her invention is that she, you know, actually invented a working object.
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Rahu Deshpande

14 years ago

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I appreciate the efforts and hard work, but really not a very new idea.. I had also worked it out long back in slightly simplistic way... check out the link.

http://www.coroflot.com/public/individual_file.asp?individual_id=268365&portfolio_id=3437843&

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gregeb

14 years ago

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The most common self-threading needle is the calyx-eye, for example,

http://www.goldviolin.com/Self_Threading_Needles_p/gt065.htm

or the Schmetz handicap side loading sewing machine needle

http://www.thecolorfulworldofsewing.com/p-229-schmetz-self-threading-needles.aspx

There are over a hundred patents in this area. But Ms Turner's idea is a good design and may find customers before the last person on earth forgets how to sew....

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Susan

14 years ago

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nice post - what a great story! I'll be ordering some - am driven mad trying to thread needles!
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Joel

14 years ago

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This is genius in the most practical way. I love these kind of things that make you say "Why didn't anyone think of that before?". I do feel like this is one of those products that you really need to be involved in the industry or constantly use to figure out that there is even a need for such an improvement. Kudos, I love the simplicity and practicality and hope that people adopt it. I also hope that she makes money off of it before someone steals the idea.
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ken j

14 years ago

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NICE!

I assume they're wire EDMing the thread labyrinth...
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Shirt Tailor

14 years ago

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May I congratulate Ms Turner on her excellent, innovative design and her perseverance in getting it to market.
I wish her all success and will be spreading the word...
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Betty C

14 years ago

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Cool. I have used the split-end type (http://www.collectionsetc.com/Product/60-piece-self-threading-sewing-needles.aspx?WT.srch=1) but this looks better.
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Scott

14 years ago

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Brilliant idea. It's astonishing that nobody thought of it before.

"Pam says they are the only needles made in the USA."

This is another astonishing quote, and a perfect example of why our country is in its current dire state. Exporting labor intensive products to low labor cost countries makes sense, but something like needle manufacturing must be a virtually labor free process. Why not make them here?

The only reason to import them is that when you're retailing them for $0.10 each, your margins are so slim that saving fractions of a cent can make the difference between a loss and a small profit.

But who decided that the "right" price for a sewing needle is $0.10? If they cost $0.20 each (a 100% increase!), would anyone even notice? Would sales drop? I doubt it. The Walmart mentality (prices must constantly go down until supplier profit reaches zero) that has infected our retail infrastructure has had such a corrosive effect on our economy. It is responsible for a large part of the pain we're in now.

Anyway, kudos Pam. Very well done.
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Designworks

14 years ago

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How is it possible that no one came up with this idea before?
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