A grey self-healing cutting mat on a workbench with a leather strap being cut along a steel rule.
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John James Harness Needles Review: Blunt Needles for Hand Stitching

ByPeter Joeseph 'Briefcase Maker' Kalafatis

A needle with no point to speak of, sold under size numbers that even the forums find confusing.

John James harness needles are the long, blunt-tipped steel needles from the English maker that most leather-supply shops stock for saddle stitching, and the questions buyers bring to them are practical ones: why the tip is blunt, which size goes with which thread, and why packs labelled 1, 2 and 3 can look the same out of the paper. This review works from retailer specifications, independent reviewers and customer reports, not hands-on testing.

Video: How to Choose the Right Thread and Needle Size for Hand-Sewing Leather, from Tandy Leather on YouTube.

Why would a leather needle be blunt?

Because the hole is already there, and the danger is the other thread.

Hands cutting thick bridle leather with an upright utility knife on a self-healing cutting mat.

Hand stitching leather runs two needles through holes punched or pricked before sewing starts. The needle is not there to cut. Its job is to carry the thread through an opening that already exists, and a sharp point in that opening can spear the thread already sitting in it from the opposite needle.

Rocky Mountain Leather Supply’s John James listing states that reasoning directly: the blunt tip passes through the holes more easily and keeps the thread from being pierced. Tandy Leather’s guide on choosing thread and needle size, written by Nicole Bradford and published in February 2025, gives the same advice for the saddle stitch in plainer terms: “use a pair of harness needles and waxed thread.”

The Ageberry sewing blog, in its guide to leather sewing needles by Olga Balasa, describes harness needles as “long cylindrical needles with a round tip at one end” and calls them sturdy and straight. The same article lists the John James saddlers harness needle among its picks and says plainly that “John James is a trusted brand for hand sewing leather needles.”

That makes the blunt needle a partner to the punching tool rather than a substitute for it. Anyone setting up for a first saddle stitch has to choose the iron or awl first, a sequence covered in punching stitch holes in thick bridle leather and in choosing a scratch awl or a stitching awl. The needle follows the hole.

What do the size numbers mean?

Less than the labels suggest, according to the maker itself.

Here the record gets tangled. Rocky Mountain sells the needles in sizes 4, 2, 0, 00 and 000, and publishes a diameter for each: 0.9 mm for size 4, 1.0 mm for size 2, 1.1 mm for size 0, 1.3 mm for size 00 and 1.6 mm for size 000. Weaver Leather Supply, on its John James product page, sells a different run under different labels: size 18 (1/0) at 57 mm long and 1.09 mm thick, size 17 (2/0) at 60 mm and 1.42 mm, and size 16 (3/0) at 62 mm and 1.63 mm.

A 2023 Leatherworker.net thread on John James harness needle sizes tried to sort it out. The poster Hazza had found that unopened old-stock packs of sizes 1, 2 and 3 held identical needles, and wrote that John James had explained the numbers come from the ordering codes of different countries, so one needle is sold under several names. He then posted the maker’s published dimensions: sizes 1, 2 and 3 all at 54 mm long and 1.02 mm across, and size 4 at 48 mm by 0.86 mm. The advice in the post was not to buy the full set expecting three different needles.

The member TomE measured his own stock and found 1/0 and 003 close in diameter but a little different in length. Another poster shared a reseller’s explanation that the duplicate numbers serve customer preference. Hazza’s reply was that the rationale was “NOT rational.”

Older posts agree with the overlap. In a 2017 thread, the poster RemingtonSteel listed sizes 1, 2 and 3 at 55 mm by 1.02 mm. RhodesAveDesigns replied that the three are the same needle. The long-time member zuludog added that a United States size 2 runs bigger than a United Kingdom size 2.

So the size number alone is a weak guide. Buyers are better served by the diameter and length a retailer prints, and by checking whether the retailer’s chart matches the maker’s.

Which size goes with which thread?

Rocky Mountain’s chart gives a starting point; the forum adds the corrections.

Close view of a self-healing cutting mat surface with healed cut lines and one deeper groove.

The Rocky Mountain listing pairs each needle with a thread range. Size 4 takes Ritza Tiger thread of 0.6 mm and under. Size 2 takes Tiger up to 0.8 mm, size 0 up to 1.0 mm, size 00 up to 1.2 mm and size 000 up to 1.6 mm. A second column gives lower figures for round corded threads such as Polybraid and Masterfil.

The 2017 thread tested that chart against practice. RemingtonSteel had struggled to pull a size 2 needle through 14 to 15 oz leather with 1.0 mm Ritza. The poster Matt S answered that “A no4 needle should be fine with 1mm Tiger.” Another member, motocouture, used size 4 with 0.6 mm Tiger and size 2 with 0.8 mm, and found the size 4 easier to pull through.

Not everyone agreed that thinner is always better. RhodesAveDesigns warned that a needle too small for the thread can shred the thread at the eye, and that 1 mm thread forced through a size 4 might break the needle at the eye. Another member, Tugadude, pointed out that the awl matters as much as the needle, since an awl stretches the hole for a moment and eases the needle through.

An older thread from 2013, on choosing a John James size for a heavy sheath, arrived at size 2 for a five-cord waxed polyester. The poster jackd942 described size 2 needles as “just over 2 inches long” and reported using them with fairly heavy waxed thread.

Tandy’s guide puts the principle in one line: matching needle to thread “prevents excessive wear on the thread.” The forum threads show how quickly that wear arrives when the match is off.

Where do buyers mark them down?

The eye is small, by design, and some hands want it bigger.

Weaver’s page showed an average of 4.9 out of 5 from 376 reviews. The individual reviews visible on the page were all five-star. Roger M. wrote that “They don’t bend and the length is perfect.” Colin F. reported stitching a sheath of four layers of 7 to 8 oz leather without trouble. Bryce J. described the eye as large enough to pass the thread while the needle still passed the hole easily.

The complaint that does come through concerns the eye. Weaver’s automated review summary notes that some buyers wish the eye were wider and longer. The 2013 forum thread made the same trade explicit: jackd942 said the needles thread “Not as easily as a larger eye needle, but still not a problem.” The original poster in that thread wanted a blunt needle whose eye was no wider than its shank, which is the point of the design, since a wide eye drags a fat loop of thread through every hole.

Matt S offered the standard workaround there, which is to taper the thread end before threading. On a thick braided thread that taper can be the difference between a needle that threads and one that does not.

Strength is the other claim. Rocky Mountain’s listing says the needles “rarely break at the eyelets when under stress.” The forum threads warn that eye breakage tends to come from forcing an oversize thread or wrenching a stuck needle sideways, and zuludog advised pulling straight to avoid it. That points the problem at sizing and technique rather than at the steel.

Weaver’s page also carries a small inconsistency: its description says John James has made needles since 1842, and its additional-details panel says 1840. Neither date is needed to judge the needle, but it shows how loosely retail copy is written.

How do they compare with Osborne harness needles?

The American alternative has a different eye and a smaller pack.

A leather workbench with a cutting mat for knife work and a poly board with mallet and chisel for punching.

The usual alternative in American shops is the C.S. Osborne 517 harness needle. Buckleguy’s listing for the 517 describes a rounded tip and an egg-shaped eye, sold five to a package at $6.45 to $8.32 depending on size. Sizes run from 517-3 at 2 1/8 inches and 20 gauge to 517-000 at 2 3/8 inches and 16 gauge, and the listing calls them a good match for Maine Thread and Ritza 25 Tiger.

John James needles come 25 to a pack at both Weaver and Rocky Mountain. Weaver charged $9.80 per pack, and Rocky Mountain $6.99 to $9.99 by size. Counted per needle, John James comes in well below the Osborne five-pack, which at its cheapest works out to more than a dollar a needle.

The 2023 thread includes one direct user of Osborne. TomE uses Osborne needles in 18, 19 and 20 gauge and reported bending them with pliers when overstitching thick leather but never broken one. That is one person’s report, not a comparison test, and no source fetched for this review set the two brands side by side under controlled conditions.

What Amazon buyers report, and what the listing leaves out

Strong ratings, and a pack whose size has to be read carefully.

The Amazon listing for John James saddlers harness blunt point needles showed 4.8 out of 5 from 180 ratings in October 2026, at $17.95 and in stock, according to the product page. That price sits well above the leather-supply shops, so buyers will want to check how many needles, and which sizes, the Amazon pack contains before comparing.

Given the size confusion above, the useful numbers on any listing are the diameter, the length and the needle count. A pack that names only “size 2” says little until the diameter is known.

For a first project with 0.6 mm thread, the sources point to size 4 or size 2. For heavier braided thread, size 0 and up. The work around the needle, from marking a straight line with wing dividers to keeping the holes even, will decide more of the stitch than the needle does.

John James Saddlers Harness Blunt Point Needles: The listing this review covers, showing 4.8 stars from 180 ratings at $17.95 when checked on October 19, 2026. See it on Amazon (affiliate link).

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. A commission may be earned if you buy through this link, at no extra cost to you.

Sources

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