Security at work: Safety rules in the sewing/quilting room
 

Last week I was happily sewing by machine when suddenly the needle broke and a part of it jumped into my eye. Luckily, it didn't nail (prick?) the eye pupil, it was only a blow which caused a spill. Now I'm fine, but I had to wear 'mafia' sunglasses for a week (I didn't want to scare the children with my 'zombie' eye in Christmas :cool:).

Well, now I've learnt the lesson... so I've purchased security glasses for sewing and I recommend everyone to do the same.

I don't want to learn 'the hard way' again, so I thought it would be good to collect some useful tips for keeping us safe at work.

http://www.sewmyplace.com/tip/sewing...e-sewing-room/
http://www.craftsy.com/article/sewin...ne-safety-tips

Can you think of something else? I know that most tips can be obvious or common sense, but they are worth remembering.

I wear glasses so I assume I am safe.

What a scary thing to have happened to you! Thanks for the safety reminders. I have trouble finding pins in my carpet when I drop them. They embed in the plush. My husband got me a magnet on a long rod so that I could find them easily. I had to learn to keep my sewing room door closed when I got my new puppy. He'd get into the trash can in the sewing room. They say it takes two months to change a bad habit which is probably true as it seemed it took me forever to remember to close that door.

I'm glad they mention the danger in holding pins between your lips. I used to work in a hospital and people do get hospitalized from accidentally swallowing pins.

Thank you for posting this. I also wear glasses and have been hit by a flying needle but fortunately the glasses did stop it from hitting my eye area. I am constantly changing from a ziz-zag to the single hole throat plate and have taught myself to automatically lower the needle with the handwheel to be sure the needle is in the correct position and will not hit the plate and break. I usually take about three stitches this way which will check needle position, throat plate and zz setting.

Good for you, ManiacQuilter!

Nice to read you again :)

Good idea, thanks. I also have a dog, but I sew in the living room, so it's complicated not to let him enter... fortunately, he doesn't seem interested in my quilting stuff other than the fabrics.

Uh... that sounds even worse than what happened to me!

It's important to be careful about this. Good tip, thank you :thumbup:

While taking a class, I was asked if there was something wrong with the light on my sewing machine. I was turning off my sewing machine after each time I sewed in the class. At home whenever I leave the machine (even to iron) the machine is turned off. I guess every time the instructor glanced at my machine, it was off and light wasn't on. I explained that I was used to sewing with animals and small children under foot and didn't want anyone "sewing" on their own. So I started this safety habit AND didn't even know I was doing it. The instructor laughed and said this was fine as long as my machine was not computerized (which it isn't). She said the many on/off's may cause the machine to loose its settings.

Thanks for the reminders to be safe. My bad habit is that I sew over pins. I am working to change this one!

When I had cats, I would set my cold iron on the floor. Did not want them knocking it off the ironing board.

Some cats are more "into things" than others. One of my cats LOVED to get at the thread on my machines. Even when they were covered. Thread is not good for cats.

I tend to throw my rotary cutter in a bag with other sewing items and have nicked myself several times, even though the blade is in the closed position. I have a separate box to put it in, and vow to do better next year!

For me - I need to wear shoes in my sewing room. Every so often I find a pin on the floor and I do not want to find it in my foot. When I was 10 I sewed my left index finger - so I am good at keeping my fingers out of the way. An I prefer to use the Clover clips or glue over pins. But have had a needle break and go flying, luckily I do wear glasses but agree it may be something to consider for those who do not wear glasses.

My machine has an on-screen lock function that keeps it from sewing esp when changing needles. I fear my dog standing on my pedal if I am in the middle of fiddling with the needle. Comes in handy.

sandy

Thanks for posting. A good reminder to us all!!

No cats, but I recently had an iron mishap. I use a board (mdf) with padding which I lay at the end of my bed, adjacent to my machine, so I can quickly press seams while piecing. I leave my iron sitting on the board while I'm using it but when finished I unplug it and place it on the floor. Last week I was changing clothes and, unthinking, sat down on the end of the bed, next to the board. The mattress sank down, the board tilted a bit and the hot iron fell against my bare hip (I had on underwear but not pants). I now have a thin curved (healed) burn line, not bad, as a reminder not to be so stupid or careless!

Injuries while sewing come in all forms, I've learned. Over the years I've gotten my thumb under the needle (didn't penetrate but damaged the nail bed), caused bleeding from pins and needles more times than I can count, and broken a few machine needles (none in the eye, thank goodness!), and have now burned my butt with the iron! Do I win?

I sat on a needle a couple weeks ago. Luckily, it had about 5 inches of thread on it. It was a darning needle. It was such that I had to have DH pull it out. Had it not been for the thread, I would have had to go to the ER to remove it. I sat then scooted just that quick. I did have a dr appointment the next day and got a tetanus shot. The thread was the same color as the cushion on my chair.

Thank you for thinking of all of us. These are great tips and reminders .

I know a lot of quilters who sew barefoot and it makes me nervous. One of the quilters in my old guild ended going to the hospital to have a pin removed. It had entered in her foot and traveled up to her back.

I also have to remember to move my hand away from the needle when I'm sewing. I have become one with a couple of my machines, including my Innova. I try to use a stiletto to guide the fabric in my DSMs, but it's a little hard with the LA. Luckily, none of these incidents required a visit to the ER.

Thank you for posting this warning. So sorry you were hurt, but very glad you are OK.

So far no serious injuries here, but I have had a broken sewing machine needle hit my glasses. I hunt for that piece of broken needle until I find it. I had a niece got a needle jammed inside her foot and had to have surgery to remove it. I only recently got a F & P Klutz glove. I was concerned about cutting those HST for the Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt. I went to put a straight pin in my mouth yesterday, and really told myself that was bad and just plain stupid. I have two dogs that have to be right by me when I am sewing. Ralph has laid over right on the foot pedal before. I have just started using a stiletto to hold fabric near the presser foot. Maybe it is just getting older and wiser, but I don't want to end up at the emergency room and more surgery.

Yeah, I'd say a "burnt butt" trumps everything:)

mme3924 -- you win!

I've learned not to use my rotary cutter when I'm very tired -- after cutting off the tip of my left index finger!

Also, my dog -- who turns 16 this year & doesn't see or hear well anymore -- has a tendency to walk on my foot pedal. I'm thinking one of these days that needle will get me if my fingers are close to it when he does that! I haven't quite figured out how to avoid that accident-waiting-to-happen.

Good advice to all of us. I wear glasses also. Hope that is enough...

Ha! Thanks! :p

Oh my word! I sliced my finger with my rotary cutter but so far have not cut anything off. Hope you are okay!

One of the best safety purchases I made was a safety iron holder. Me, the cat, or little hands cannot knock/pull the iron off the board. I put it back in the holder every time I set the iron down. It's hassle free to use. Clotilde use to sell them. I haven't seen one in years.

what ahorrible scary thing to have happen. I'm a glasses wearer, also had a transplant, so hopefully i'm safe with glasses on. Something we don't think about,,,getting hurt when quilting. I had a terrible quilting accident. I cut the tip of my finger off down to the bone, They took my rotary cutter away at work over it. made me use scissors.

Thank you, thank you for telling your experiences and for the tips. They are all very helpful.

Happy New Year to everyone. Take care and enjoy a whole year of quilting!

Thanks for the safety note. I do wear glasses, otherwise I couldn't see to sew; however, I have accidentally stepped on a needle, which required the help of my DH to remove. Needles can be sneaky.

I'm really sorry, I didn't read it before. I hope you are better now...

Repurpose/reuse recommendation for storing a rotary cutter for travel to classes, etc. Remove the plastic outer cover from a Crystal Light container and insert the rotary cutter. Perfect fit. Dangerous blade in first. Snap on the lid and you should be good to go. I've shared with a lot of quilting friends rather than toss them in the trash.

I have a small plastic basket that I keep next to my foot feed, and when I am sewing it is laying on its side, when I stop, I use my toe to push it over the footfeed. I have recently acquired a very large clumsy dog who thinks we are attached at the hip, so I am learning to "Eli - proof" my sewing room. For my iron, I found a silicone, iron shaped pad with little 1/2" raised dots to put my iron face down on, I use it to cool the iron off on, and when I am using it, I set the hot iron face down because I have two cats who like to jump up to lay in the warm spot, and this keeps them safe. Gotta adapt to the fur-kid hair
-brained ideas.