Sometimes it can be difficult to find the supplies which are required for a certain project. You know me! If you can’t find one-make one. That’s what we’re going to do today. Even in the metropolitan area, that I live in, it can be difficult to find tatting needles. Not to be hindered by this minor setback, I decided to figure out something that I could use to substitute.

The closest item-in size, shape and structure-are the needles used for hand stitching dolls. I don’t mean the type that you’d use to hand sew a fabric doll together with. No, I’m talking about the long ones used to make the dimples in their faces and such. This needle is sized more for about a size #20 or #30 thread but can be used for the #10 or even bigger if you like (remember, it’s what you like that matters).

The only problem with using a doll needle is that it’s intended to pierce fabric and therefore has a sharp point. This will never do for tatting because we’d constantly be piercing your finger with that point. Thus, we need to find a way of blunting the point so that we can use it safely. The logical solution is to file the needle to a nice soft rounded edge. Three methods, for doing this, come readily to my mind and we’ll cover each one individually.



1) Metal File: A metal file works great for filing another metal object. The trick is to use a file with a grain that’s suitable to the metal you wish to file. To file the point off of our doll needle, we will need a file with a fine grain. Otherwise the needle will drop into the cross grains and nothing will happen. A small fingernail file would be suitable. Or, you can find a craft file which will work perfectly.
2) Wet Stone: The same type of stone used to sharpen knives, to a fine sharpness, is the perfect choice for filing the point off of your needle. A wet stone if extremely fine and you won’t have to worry about the grain being too big for your needle.
3) Sandpaper: This is another great option for getting rid of that point. Again, the important thing to keep in mind is to use a fine grained paper. If sandpaper isn’t an easy option, another surprising substitute is an Emory board nail file. It’s something that most women (and some men) have handy and it’s portable.

With these tools, which most people keep in their home or shed, transforming a long doll needle into a usable tatting needle is an easy ‘fix’. So, get out those files, stones or sandpaper, make your own tatting needles and happy tatting!