Sewing Machine accidents?

[Kate XXXXXX]

Almost took a chunk out of my left index finger with the scissors once, cutting plastic boning.  Ther's now a pair of tin nips in my sewing room for this! (Um...  For cutting the boning, NOT the fingers!   )

I frequently have pin crashes, though not always this severe:

This took several minutes to extract from the needle hole...


Two holes through the head of a flower pin!  I had to rip half a seam to get it out!


Two holes through the head of a safety pin, no less!


None of these did any damage to my trusty Lily.

The worst sewing machine disaster/accident killed my Huskylock.  I'm sure I've told this before, but just to reiterate the warning:

How to kill a serger:

Mea culpa! I killed my serger... "Woe! Woe! And thrice Woe!" (OK... so THAT quote ages me!)

A tale of doom, gloom, and horrendous expense, not to say STRESS!

Sergers need TLC. They need to be de-fluffed and cleaned and oiled and serviced... ESPECIALLY if you are using a domestic serger heavily for sewing bespoke stuff for customers!

Ok, so about three years back now I was in the middle of a BIG project for a customer... Wedding gown for her, and kit for 16 bridesmaids... Heavy poly satin, circular skirts, and they all needed to have rolled hems! The bride's skirt had TWO complete circles of fabric in it!

And I tried to do the whole lot in one go! BIG mistake! I should have known better! My poor hard-working Huskylock 910 over-heated, and then siezed solid! Emergency trip to the sewing machine repair guy revealed a damaged needle bar as well as a seizure in one of the main bearings. I had to phone round all the sewing machine shops in the county to find an emergency replacement while the Huskylock was fixed. It was never the same, and limped along (no! Clattered and rattled along like a Gatling gun!) for another year, until I replaced it two summers ago with my lovely Bernina and the Brother with the free arm.

That bit of arrant carelessness cost me a Huskylock 910, £170 for the emergency pre-loved Toyota, and the price of a new Bernina 1150MDA and a new Brother 1034D. Never again will I be stuck in the middle of a project without a back-up machine! And never again will I hammer one to death is this manner.

I WILL allow more time to complete rolled hems!

I WILL allow rest stops for both me and my machine!

I WILL clean and oil more regularly!

Please learn from my mistake...