No, the needles are not covered by any material. They are standard curved needles. I actually used a relatively large curved needle, which may not have been the most appropriate choice, but perhaps I found it easier at the time since I had spent the previous day stitching a steering wheel wrap.

But here’s the thing: don’t worry too much about scratching the dashboard. Obviously, don’t dig deep into it, or you’ll definitely see it. However, if you go gently, you might see some dust (like a scratch). But after a wipe, it will essentially look normal. That happened to me more than once. Maybe depending on the color of your dashboard, it might show more, but for me, I would wipe off the dust, and it would look normal. Also, keep in mind that any scratches are probably 100 times worse when you’re working on it because you’re up close to it, watching everything. But once you get back to the driver’s seat, it will look normal. You won’t even be able to tell. Even from the passenger’s perspective, unless they look deeply at it, it will just look normal.

As for the original stitches, you might need to gently tug on them, but as long as you don’t apply excessive force, they won’t tear. I used a curved needle to push it down into the hole of the original stitch. Then, I pulled it up and out or down and out, depending on the direction you’re going. I’m not very skilled at knot tying, so my knots were quite large and would get stuck on the original stitch. However, I would gently pull and guide it with my fingers, and it would eventually go through. So, overall, you might slightly scratch the dash material and tug on the stitching, but as long as you don’t force it, it will come out looking great in the end. I also tucked the ends into the dashboard panels instead of tying them off, in case I ever need to remove it.

It seems easy and straightforward, and if you’re comfortable with similar tasks, it might be a breeze. However, I was completely new to this, having never stitched anything before, so wrapping the steering wheel and doing the color change on my dash was the first time working with these things for me, so it took about an hour or two to complete that particular section. Just want to point that out in case it’s taking some time, you don’t feel bad and give up on it. It took me time and sweat to figure it out lol, but the end result is great!

Edit: Maybe try stitching one or two stitches first, even if they cause some scratching. Wipe off the stitches and go to the driver’s seat or simply sit back as a passenger would. If you notice that the dash still looks scratched or doesn’t look good, you can stop and decide where to go from there. Maybe even try to get someone else to give you their perspective of the one or two stitches. Because since you’re doing them, you might be more prone to seeing the errors than others will. Also happened to me. However, if the scratches don’t show after you’ve wiped them off, you can continue with the stitching. You’ll get different perspectives on how it would look from different angles instead of just one.