Sewing Needles: Parts, Functions, Sizes and Selection

The needle was one of humankind’s first tools. Over the
millenia it developed from a simple craft item to the precision tool for
modern sewing machines.
The most ancient (28,000 BC) sewing needle did not have an eye but a
split end that gripped the thread to be sewn. Needles from 17,500 BC had
an eye at one end and tapered at the other end. Around 1800, Balthasar
Krems from Mayen, Germany