Have You Unintentionally Injured Your Sewing Machine?
 

Yesterday I hit a wrong button on my machine .... the one that caused my needle to move to the left; consequently, when I sewed, the needle went right down thru my plastic presser foot. :shock:

I was more upset with myself for being careless .... selecting the wrong key rather than the right key (I was adjusting the stitch length). Anyway, the needle went down ... I heard what sounded like a bang, & was nearly brought to tears because I know to avoid such carelessness. I mean it wasn't intentional, I did make a mistake. But it's those mistakes, you know, that cause us to question what we've just done. :eek:

Fortunately my Viking D1 machine is sewing well, & surprisingly, my presser foot was not broken.

It did get me to thinking though .... how easy is it to damage one's machine?
Fortunately I've not ever done that.
I'd always heard to be careful, so as to not throw off the timing.
I've been told hitting a pin can throw off the timing.
If that were to happen, I'm not sure what that would look or feel like.
Can you tell me?

Fortunately I don't really hit pins. Have trained myself to stop in advance of them & remove them. :p With these machines being as pricey as they are, I try to keep mine in good repair & take care of it as best that I can.

So .... I'm just wondering about the ways in which our beloved sewing machines can be compromised, even broken by "us," with our sewing.
I attempt to avoid all the things that I can avoid (hitting pins, dropping the machine, banging the machine when moving it, etc) .... but is there anything else that I should be aware of ... to avoid ... so as to not compromise the sewing machine or even break it?

If I ever were to have a problem with my sewing machine, how would I know ... besides the obvious ... a routine service call, or having the machine act up?

Thanks for your thoughts. I know many of you here have been sewing regularly for decades.
I'm hoping you can give me your insight.

Thanks.

That D1 is tougher than you realize! I am 72, have been sewing since I was 4 yrs old (still have the Featherweight I learned on) and have had many sewing machines. I have a D1, just upgraded my Diamond to a Diamond Royale, I have 2 sergers, and several antique machines. I learned to sew over pins when small, and I never could break that bad habit (I put pins in my mouth as well). It is not advisable...even frowned upon, and I try hard to remember to remove them. I have broken a needle or two over the years, but just replaced it and kept on sewing. I take my machines for regular service and NEVER has one been out of timing! Other problems, not operator related, but pins weren't the issue. I am careful not to bump the embroidery unit, that ruins the project, but doesn't harm the machine. I can't imagine dropping a machine! They are too heavy for me to throw out the window when I am frustrated! We all get bird's nests, break threads, forget to clean the bobbin area, etc. It is part of the sewing world. I think relax, enjoy the journey is your best bet. Happy sewing!

Fray Check is a poor substitute for sewing machine oil.

If your machine needed to be timed, you would know it. The needle would not pick up the bobbin thread, and it would not form a stitch.

The main requirements for keeping most machines happy are thorough cleaning and frequent oiling. I usually do both with every bobbin change.

bear - did you accidentally use Fray Check for oil? I would say how funny, except I don't think it would have been.

I too try to stop before getting close to a pin but I have broken some needles but nothing more fortunately.

I have done that to my machine. I knocked it out of timing. Had to take it in for repair. It taught me to be more careful.

The D1, if I recall, says not to use oil.

I know that my latest machine, the Viking Prelude, also says no oil.

Do you use a drop of oil anyway?
Or not?

I do try to remember to clean my machine between sewing projects with a good dusting & cleaning out of the bobbin area.

I don't baby my machines but try to be careful as I can. If an accident happens I don't get upset, either fix it or forget it.

I only have older mechanical machines. Sometimes I don't take out pins and have hit them. Usually it just bends the pins but sometimes it breaks the needle. The only thing that's thrown the timing off was using hand quilting thread instead of sewing thread. The label only said quilting thread and I had no idea it wasn't meant to be used for machines.

Bear, I think I would have cried if I had used Fray Check for oil. Sorry that happened to you.

I have broken a needle or two by forgetting to change the foot when I change the stitch. Thankfully I have not knocked off the timing in doing so although I know that is possible. The only machine I ever broke was my serger. While threading it, I had accidentally wrapped a thread around something it shouldnt be around, and when trying to make it chain, I broke a looper and knocked the timing off. Realized immediately what I had done wrong. My repair guy appreciated my honesty (so he didnt have to hunt for the cause of the problem) when he asked what happened and I told him "operator error"

Maybe your machine has a stitch width safety setting? I have the Sapphire 870q and made a comment one day about trying to remember I had the single hole plate on.... a nice member said to go into tools and choose that setting. It really works, even when you choose a zigzag stitch, if that setting is on...you will only get a straiht stitch. :D

It is pretty hard to throw machines out of timing I have hit presser feet, pins, broke numerous needles and in 15 years have only thrown one machine out of timing by a fusible vinyl that had a section not covered by fabric and it stuck to the bed of my machine not allowing the fabric to advance and that threw it out of timing. Your machine will not sew if timing is off.

Oh dear, poor machine! LOL

hitting rulers while long arming has broken needles, caused timing issue. On DSM I was pulling my good machine in it's rolling case and hit a sidewalk seam and dropped the case---broke off one of the 2 spool spindles :( not very fixable and the fix turned out to be temporary.

1)
I ruined my Sewing machine while I took my first quilting class over 25 years ago. Learned the hard way to not use hand quilting thread in he bobbin. To this day I blame the instructor for assuming this is common knowledge to a new quilter.
It was a vintage Singer and I loved that machine. At the time i barely could afford paying for the quilting class and materials as a single mom and was faced to having to pay to replace it after paying $ to have it checked
The silver lining was the repair man sold me a Featherweight in great working condition at a very reasonable price. And I loved learning to piece quilts -I got hooked
Became a fabric-holic too. 😍

2)
Last year my HV Emerald 193 (great machine) I impatiently pulled too hard on a snag/tangled threads in the bobbin and evidently chipped the bobbin case -thus the bobbin kept popping out. It was a slight chip but enough to paralyze my sewing on it. I ordered s new bobbin case and it's working great again.
Lesson learned, if I get my fabric stuck w tangles in my bobbin I no longer " pull " the fabric away/threads out. Instead , I patiently (which does not come easy to me, lol) clip knots off under the fabric close to the stuck area and use tweezers to clear the tangled threads.

I've been sewing for over 40 years and have never knocked a machine out of time. A vintage all metal machine has to be really, really abused for that to happen. I sew over pins, forget to change my needle plate, you name it I've done it. Only once did I hurt a machine. When I got my Brother PE200 embroidery machine a couple years ago it had a class 66 bobbin in it. I knew that couldn't be right so I googled the machine and on three out of the top five sites that came up people said that it does take that bobbin. So I loaded a hoop and hit start. Stitch, stitch, thunk! and the needle bar popped loose. I fixed the needle bar and got the correct bobbins and it works like it should. I should've listened to my gut in the first place and asked at the Brother dealer BEFORE I ran the machine.

Cari

My friend managed to get her auto needle threader on the wrong side of the needle it was impossible to move and it cost her a trip to the repair man. It was one of those accidents when she was sewing very slowly and carefully.

Ive broken needles by pulling the fabric from under the needle when it is still in the fabric, rushing too much.

LOL!!!! we really need to be able to laugh at ourselves.

I did that with my diamond, once, my brother, once and believe it or not with my new epic. All lived through the ordeal, you would have thought the first time would have nipped that carelessness in the bud. My quarter inch feet that are plastic all have a small hole in them. My epic has a mark on the faceplate. Lucky for me they are strong machines. I try to be super careful.....now.

When a needle breaks make sure you take the bobbin and assembly apart making sure part of the needle does not remain lodged in the bobbin mechanism. Ask me how I know

Years ago I was doing a "quick get the living room cleared out for company coming" and didn't take the buttonhole attachment off the machine before setting it next to the wall beside my bed. Accidentally tripped over it a bit later and shoved it against the wall and apparently bent the needle shaft as it no longer lined up with the hole in the throat plate. At that time I could not find a repair person easily (no internet and trying to call yellow pages lookup for surrounding towns was not a simple task either.

I broke one of the little teeth that hold the bobbin faceplate on, on my old machine. Just plain careless impatience. I used it like that for years. If I was using a heavy fabric every once in a while it would slide off....With my new machine I'm VERY careful.

Watson

Let's see, the VX560 once got a burr put into the shuttle hook that caused some problems until I took it apart and using a metal file removed the burr. I think that happened while I was stitching on some thin metal to make some decorative additions to an art quilt.

The PC420PRW somehow got a huge chunk taken out of the shuttle hook on the drop in bobbin case, but it kept on sewing just fine. I thought it didn't look right, but since it sewed fine I kept using it. My tech said she couldn't believe that it kept sewing like that. Not only did it keep sewing, but it sewed beautiful stitches including all the decorative stitches. I did replace that part, just in case. LOL

I've never had a finicky sewing machine, all 4 of mine seem to take pretty much whatever I throw at them...but then again, I've never used fray check in place of oil--:shock:


Rob <object type="cosymantecnisbfw" cotype="cs" id="SILOBFWOBJECTID" style="width: 0px; height: 0px; display: block;"></object>

About fifteen years ago I bought my first computerized machine, a Janome 4800. It was a huge improvement over my Kenmore, and brought me into the world of FMQ. I typically would use it on a folding utility table, which seemed to work great. One day I put up the table but for some reason failed to secure the legs properly with the safety rings. I placed my machine on one end if it, and the other end of the table collapsed, my machine slid all the way down the table, and bounced onto the hardwood floor. I was always leery about the machine after that, and when I inherited some money I immediate bought a Janome 6600 with table that the machine sits down into. The 4800 was delegated to our Florida condo, and has been used every year in the winter with no problem. I get the regular maintenance done, of course, and it has never let me down. That's my story I'm adding to the mix!

I broke one of my feet the other day when I tried to use the wrong stitch setting and the needle hit the foot. It didn't seem to hurt my Janome.

If you are traveling with your electronic machine, be sure and pad it well. The bumps from the road can cause problems. Not an issue with older machines.

I took the bobbin shuttle out in the wrong order when cleaning. Had to take her in for service and the young man explained that it was user error. Learned the hard way.

Ha, I almost did this today....the bottles look alike.

Jackie
I sew with a vintage Kenmore 8 stitch. This is a heavy tank of a machine.
I have used this machine for 27 years. I have broken needles. Used the
wrong thread a time or two. But my machine has never failed me.
I enjoy my machine and quilt almost everyday on it. I would like to have
a machine like some of you ladies have, but this machine is all I have.
If you enjoy quilting and sewing, go ahead and do it.
Accidents happen. If something brakes get fixed it.
Enjoy your machine, and learn to be a little more careful.
Every sewer makes mistakes. We learn and go on

I have never put a drop of oil in my Vikings they are sealed so oil doesn't do any good

I know this isn't funny....buuuuu-ut......lucky for me I noticed in time!

Currently many say "don't sew over pins" but in addition to "quilt sewing" I also do a lot of garment /costume construction on my regular sewing machine (do not have an industrial one) and it is virtually impossible to sew some styles of "set in" sleeves without using pins and sewing over them. I know that I could possibly "hand baste" the garment together first but it is time consuming and not very efficient when deadlines have to be met.

Yes I have hit a few pins in my 40 years of sewing and have been lucky enough to not have had too many mechanical problems.

If anyone has suggestions on how to do garment sewing without pins and not "hand basting" it together first please let me know what your method is.

Many years ago sewing over pins was the normal thing to do. The hinged presser foot was invented for sewing over pins.

Cari