A threader for a mounted sewing machine needle having an eye adjacent the pointed lower end thereof includes a base plate adapted to be received beneath the foot of the machine, and a housing providing a positioning recess for aligning the needle threader with the sewing machine needle eye. The housing supports a pair of reciprocable thread pusher members at right angles to one another, and when the device is aligned with the needle eye, the first pusher member is displaceable from a retracted to an extended position to push a strand of thread through the needle eye from one side thereof to the other. When the first pusher member is returned to the retracted position, the second thread pusher member is displaceable from a retracted to an extended position to engage a loop of thread on the other side of the needle eye and to displace the thread laterally of the needle to a position where it can be easily grasped by the user's fingers.