Thanks Patsy! I think what happened is when I started folding up the material to sew, a bit of it somehow got onto the part of the machine that holds the needle, which had gotten a bit yucky. I had wiped it down earlier, but it had gotten the gross black oily stuff on it again. Of course the one time I need baby powder I don't have any in the house :D I am washing it right now in the dishwashing liquid to see if that helps! Many thanks again!