That seems to be my favorite type of sewing. It must be since I do it so much! Usually it's only the top layer or two of skin, so at least no blood on the quilt.

I did the exact same thing, with the same treatment about 60 years ago. Haven't done it since....needless to say, I learned a very hard lesson. I am very, very careful and use an awl now all the time.....no short cuts....:o)

I'm sorry,I'm sure that hurt.

All I can say is Ouch! Let's be carefully out there.

OMG I can say I have never done that. (knocking on wood). I did however slice the end of my index finger off with my rotary cutter. I went out right away and bought quards for my rulers. The good thing is when my finger nail grows out it is not noticable.

me too very close. and I have hit my head on the machine before.

OK, I have to ask. How did you hit your head?

I was helping with a 4H sewing camp, and as I was threading the needle, the little girl pressed on the foot pedal. Luckily it just took off the outside layer of my nail.

Ouch...I'm glad that it wasn't any worse than what it was...geesh.....I'm glad that you are okay.

I have done that twice and both time it went right through the nail. Hurt

Been there, don't advise it!!! First time thru the nail out the other side...had to take needle out of machine to get my finger loose...last time it went thru but along the side of the nail... :thumbup: best part of the first one...guess which finger??? :thumbup: :-D :thumbup: Yup, after going to the hospital for stitches and to get tetnus shot.and bandage...had a middle finger that I was instructed to hold up for a day or two. It was so that the throbbing wouldn't be so bad.... :lol: :lol: :thumbup:

I worked in the clothing industry for years and all machinists had long finger nails. Better to hit the nail than your flesh! lol

Karen xx

I was concentrating, got my finger too close to the needle, and sewed the whole way through my fingernail! I was home alone and had to get it out myself. It scared me more than it hurt as I recall. But I AM more cautious of keeping my hands away from the needle now!

I was sewing alone in the house which was all locked up and sewed my finger. It jammed the machine and it took a few seconds to realize my finger was what jammed it. Thank God I had my cell phone in my pocket. I called my mother for help and she wasn't certain she had a key and it took her a bit to find it. When she finally got to my house I gave her directions to find the needle nose pliers in another room. By this time my finger was starting to pain me. She couldn't find the pliers and all I could do was laugh as I started to feel stupid for sewing my finger. By this time, 15 or so minutes had passed with my finger stuck in the machine. I had to cut the needle (which came out on the bottom) below my finger which meant I was still stuck and had to find a screwdriver to unscrew the needle. Finally got my finger out of the machine but the needle was still sticking out of it (with thread). I wanted it x-rayed so went across the highway to the emergency clinic as I was afraid the needle may have gone through or broken a piece of bone off. One of the nurses took a picture of my finger with her cell phone as she had never seen such a thing. Luckily, no bone damage and they just pulled the needle out really quickly. Since then I always keep one door unlocked, needlenose pliers, and a screwdriver next to my sewing machine and the cell phone in my pocket. I can laugh now, but it really wasn't very pleasant at the time.

I did that one time too. The needle went rignt through my finger nail and out the other side. I was home alone so I knew I could not panic. I actually had to get the needle out of the machine before I could remove it from my finger. And the I had to go to the garage and get a pair of plyer to pull it out. I never had any blood or pain. There certainly is alot of force behind my Viking Designer machine. But I love it. It is truly my best friend during the cold snowy winters here is Iowa.

The same thing happened to me when I was in high school. I caught the side of my thumb with the needle. The needle broke off in my thumb with the thread still attached. Without even thinking I just pulled on the thread and pulled the broken piece of needle right out. When the bleeding stopped, I put a band-aid on it and went right back to the project at hand.

I am thankful it has not happened again since---it hurt!

You are so fortunate. I sewed my finger one time. The needle broke cause it hit a bone. Had to have the rest of the needle cut out.

OooHHHH it hurt.!

Reading about all this brings it back and makes me shudder!

Okay now there are three of us who had to have needle cut out of our fingers. I'm still cringing as I recall that night! Glad it's early enough in the evening and I won't be having nightmares!

Something that also hurts just as bad as the needle is the screw that holds it in. Several times I have had my fingers too close & that screw has come down & cut me in the 1st joint of my middle finger.

Mary,,honey take it easy , soo sorry this happened and from the other messages ; it happens pretty often. I sewed my finger through the nail with my Mom's sewing machine when I was about 5. She freaked but Daddy stopped her from jerking my finger out. He lifted the needle out by turning the wheel. She never threatened me and never let me near it again. I've only been quilting about 3 years. take care, ok.
:D Karen

I did that years ago, needle went right thru the nail & out the other side. I didn't realize the machine had an automatic lockdown if it jammed so I couldn't move the needle bar up, seemed like forever I was stuck in that machine. I was home alone except for the cat, I told her to go get help but she just stared at me-LOL.
It was probably 10 seconds that the machine was in lockdown, a relief when I could finally turn the handwheel & pull out the needle-needle didn't even break. Luckily it missed bone and no lasting damage, made me pay more attention to what I am doing though.
Maire

I was trying to help my sister learn her Viking. She sewed right on my finger when I was adjusting the fabric. I said an ugly word and called her a name starting with a B!

She just looked at me and said "Lesson's over, that was my last needle!". Then we both cracked up laughing as I looked at my "bird" finger with the needle broke off and sticking out both sides....and yes, it did smart especially pulling it out. :)

Hi - I'm fairly new to quilting, but have been sewing most of my life. I have a professional embroidery business (20 years now) that I run out of my home. So to the finger story. When I first started my embroidery business, was in a warehouse setting, sewing away at 500 stitches a minute with a big professional embroidery machine. Was trimming without stopping the machine and got my pointer finger on the left hand. The needle stopped down in my finger. Got the mechanism to go up and went to the local clinic. They pulled out some thread and needle and I went back to work. About a month later, I felt terrible. Went to a real doctor. He sent me to hospital for x-ray. Guess what? Needle piece still there. He numbed my finger, cut off half nail and put my finger in a pan to soak (about size of bed pan). I'm not exaggerating, pus went over the top of the pan. He said he had never seen anything like it. He put gauze in my finger. Went back a week or 2 later. He numbed finger (did not numb it) and pulled out the gauze. I screamed so loud that we thought we had sent all the other patients running! I soaked the finger for years and it has never been the same - I still feel thread in the finger. I will never trim again without stopping my machine - any kind of machine!

Oh...I haven't done it with the machine...just hand sewing...but I just can't bear to read all of these!!!! Ya'll......BE CAREFUL!!!

I think I 'm gonna puk. It is a wonder that you didn't lose that finger.

OUCH....

Hi I was teaching my grandchildren to sew many years ago and sewing and talking and what do I do but sew my finger needle stuck in the finger and the machine stopped so I took the needle out and asked my grandson to please pull the needle out and don`t do what I did. and tried to calmly put ice on the finger but it hurt so bad. Both th children were speechless. Later we laughed about it and they teased me for a long time after that especially when I made them a few quilts. Janey

OK,

How long does it take the human nervous system to react to 1600 stitches per minute while sewing?

My answer: 3 1/2 stitches along the inside fold of my fingernail and right off the end of my finger.

My brand new Viking Megaquilter on ten foot quilt frame, set to high speed 'cause I was in a hurry.

I let go of the left handle to smooth a ripple in the top near the needle, then shifted direction with my right handle, meandered my finger right into the quilt!!!

Wouldn't have been so bad if I hadn't jerked real hard on the next to last whole stitch and made the needle break.

Last stitch was with a broken needle shaft.

Took a half hour to find all the needle pieces and make sure none was in the finger.

Took two hours to pick all the dark blue lint out of the finger.

Oh, and there was no blood on the quilt!!

Yeeeoww>. Hope once is enough. Was at a qulting class the other day and the teacher said if you ever do bleed on your quiltyour own saliva is a good solvent or hydogen peroxide. Odd tip.

When I was very young (Like 7 or 8 years old) I was learning to sew on my mother's treadle sewing machine and ran the needle through my thumb more than a few times. I quickly learned not to jerk my hand back but to stop and raise the needle so that I could remove my hand. Don't remember if I got blood on what I was sewing, but I imagine that I did when I jerked my hand and tore the needle out of my thumb.

Ouch!!! Glad you didn't get any blood on your quilt.

You win for the scariest story!!

Oh, I am so sorry that I started reading this thread!!! Eek, I got the heebies reading some of these......

Yikes!

Been there, done that on my long arm quilting machine! Those machines have rather large needles too. Last summer, I was working on a customer quilt and in a hurry, sewed through my pointer fingernail in 2 places. An x-ray at the ER (on a Sunday night) showed no broken bones. It really didn't hurt much and my finger didn't bleed much or on the quilt either. It took about 2 months for all the feeling to come back in my fingertip. Right after everything was back to normal, I sliced off the side of the SAME finger with the rotary cutter. Thankfully, it healed just fine and I have finally learned to slow down!!!

oh yes, I have done that also . needle went right thru the finger, to this day I have a black spot there. luckly no blood and no broken needle. i guess I have been initiated into the sewing world.

At least, I have not sliced off any more than a finger nail with the rotary cutter.

I was practicing free motion quilting. The piece really didn't matter, it was just a scrap. But when I sewed through my thumb I thought I'd pass out, then wanted to swear and sit there... but I realized I had projects around that I DIDN'T want to bleed on, so I managed to get to the bathroom. Good thing I had had a tetanus shot fairly recently (and I hope all of you remember that issue!)

One of my friends has a daughter in the garment industry in NYC. This girl has sewed since she was a very young child... and she just managed to sew her finger.

Made me feel better, since the BOM at the LQS laughed uproariously at me.

I was practicing free motion quilting. The piece really didn't matter, it was just a scrap. But when I sewed through my thumb I thought I'd pass out, then wanted to swear and sit there... but I realized I had projects around that I DIDN'T want to bleed on, so I managed to get to the bathroom. Good thing I had had a tetanus shot fairly recently (and I hope all of you remember that issue!)

One of my friends has a daughter in the garment industry in NYC. This girl has sewed since she was a very young child... and she just managed to sew her finger.

Made me feel better, since the BOM at the LQS laughed uproariously at me.

Glad your finger is okay! I sewed through my finger, through my nail bed and didn't realize it until I noticed the needle was making a "thunking" sound. The needle had broken off in my finger!! I called my husband to bring a pair of pliers and two bandaids. He pulled the needle out and put the bandaid on. I left it on tight for about 1 minute (to stop the bleeding) and then took it off and put the second bandaid on looser and kept on sewing. I was on a roll!! Why stop because of a little needle in my finger. Of course, I had to change the needle on the machine, since it broke! *giggle* And you know that your saliva will take your blood out of fabric!!!