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Bag material that I am familiar with is osnaburg, a med-heavy cotton.
A needle suitable for that or for denim would be size 16 or 18. Should
be able to find them at any sewing goods store - Joann Fabrics and
Hancock come to mind; both have websites.

Have been following this thread with interest. I have a situation
where a fairly valuable rug is unraveling at both ends. I'm at fault
because I didn't do anything about it soon enough.

Now I want to locate a good quality binding, but before I sew it on,
I have to "whip-stitch" (correct term?) the raveled ends. OK I will
get a needle with a big eye, but what should I use to whip the ends?
An ordinary thread? If not, anybody know what else to use?

Also referrals to appropriate groups appreciated.


Well... carpet thread seems like an obvious solution.

Thanks...but I actually didn't know there WAS such a thing.
I tried to Google the term, but no luck. Carpet stores around
here seem to just sell the carpet, no repair/maintenance items.
Where to look?

When we were looking at buying area rugs, we checked with Home Depot to
see if they could bind the edges on a chunk of carpet. They said they
provide the service, but contract it out. A decent carpet store should
be able to sew on a binding for you. If you can't find one, try
upholstery shop. You could probably stitch the frayed end with a decent
sewing machine, but stitching on the binding is probably too much ..
might be doable. I have seen curved upholstery needles at Joann or
Hancock fabrics. There is heavy duty sewing thread at regular fabric
stores, and it should be strong enough to keep a binding in place. My
sewing machine sews six layers of denim without any trouble using a #16
or #18 needle.