Does someone have a link to a universal type product that maybe adheres to the sewing machine to protect fingers? My local sewing machine repairman suggested I buy one for teaching my 5 year old niece how to sew. I've googled and haven't found what I'm looking for.

Anyone have one, does it work o.k.? I would like to make her first experiences sewing less dangerous.

No but I would be interested also, to teach my granddaughter.

the only finger protectors I have ever seen are on the kiddy toy sewing machines. I also think that there is a hello kitty model with that attachment. sorry that I am no help in this. but those are the only protectors that I know of.

Hi Candace When I started teaching my 4 and 5 yr old. DGD I use my old singer machine and I taped a popcicle stick at the 1/4 mark. This helped them to keep the fabric stright. That way there fabric didn't run off to the right on them and they were able to watch there fingers when they got close to the needle.
Also if your teaching her on a machine that you can lower the speed on your machine that also helps.
My 4 year old made her first quilt before she was 5. and with no hurt fingers.. Goos luck

there are vintage "finger protectors" for the old Singer machines. they would fit any short shank machine. I have one in my collection, but do not know where you can get them.April Henry (april 1930's) has a website & sells on eBay.
she might have one for sale. fun place to look, even if you
don't find what you are looking for.

I wonder if you could tape something to the right side of the machine where it would hang down between the child's fingers and that needle? A piece of cardboard or something? She could still get stuck, but the visual barrier would be a reminder.

The only thing that I could think of is if the protector that is around embellishing machine needles could be adapted to the machine? However, it may defeat the purpose as it could be harder to see where to sew.
I have little kids sewing with me a lot and my philosophy is to teach them safety with the right gear and procedure as I think people have accidents when they are struggling with blunt scissors etc. However, I am not trying to dictate what you should do - safety has to be the prime concern. I have had 4 - 7 year old boys and girls manage OK. However, I must say I have an 'eagle eye' on them ( reminding safety rules) and never leave the room if they are in it.

I can't lower the speed of the machine as it's a 1960's Morse. And she's in love with it because it's a pink, princess machine that she wants to learn on. Maybe it is a vintage Singer piece that he was talking about. I've not had much luck finding anything.

Thanks, the popsicle stick is a good idea.

Found this site. Perhaps one of these may fit:

http://www.universalsewing.com/tek9....criteria=520.1

WOW - that is a great site. I have marked it so that I can go back and really look at everything. That is definetely a good starting point. I guess I will be buying a couple of those for my machines.

And they are so reasonably prices - $1 - $4. I might need to get me one for my new Brother. It is so much faster than my old Singer, might be a good idea.

Thanks for the link. But I'm having a hard time picturing how these work and would protect fingers.

I know that Viking sells a finger guard for their machines. It is clear plastic, sort of U-shaped, that fastens down in front of the needle. The kiddies can see what they are doing, but this would prevent them from getting their fingers actually into the "danger zone."
Good luck!

That's exactly what I'm looking for and what my repairman described. Though I can't seem to find a universal type one that would work. I'll keep looking...

I just taught my 7 yo DD to use my machine. I didn't know these even existed. When we started, I told her two things to watch for...the needle and the needle tightening screw. Of course, the 2nd time she puts the needle in motion, the screw gets her knuckle. She cried, but went right back to it. I might just have to look into this.

Thanks

Candace, I was wondering if you got the finger guard and if it worked on your machine. Just yesterday our 8 year daughter stitched the needle thru her finger in her sewing class and we had to take her to the hospital to have the needle removed. I have been searching on the internet for a guard but have had no luck. Our daughter is fine, on the way to the hospital and after the initial shock of having a needle thru her finger and after some of the pain went away she started joking around saying she looked like Frankenstein and said that she wished it had happened on halloween. She wants to go back to her sewing class but we would love to find the finger guard to prevent another trip to the hospital.

Sorry, but no I never got one. I just couldn't find one on the net that looked like it would work on the machine I was teaching her on.

I sat with her the whole time and watched her like a hawk and warned her repeatedly about what could happen. If you do find a good one, could you post it and let me know?

Sorry to hear about the accident. I've had it happen to me a few times, though just through the nail and not anything as severe....

When I wanted to teach my grands to sew, I found a photo of a wire finger protector online. I asked my son about fabricating something similar. He found some wire and created a quick inexpensive duplicate. It attaches next to the presser foot and works great. So far, no kids have sewn their fingers.

I found a finger guard on sew-classic's site - she is out of stock though. bummer.

My son fabricated one with wire, copying a photo of one we saw online. He just bent the wire with needle nose pliers into the correct shape. It attaches along with the presser foot and goes around in front of the needle. I taught 3 of my grands to sew using that protector.

Pfaff used to have one that attached to the needle bar. I don't know if they still have one.

Singer makes one - I wonder where to get one locally. I called JoAnn's no luck there.

http://www.maxiaids.com/products/137...ad-Cutter.html
It attaches with the presser foot screw in the U shaped channel, with the thread cutter blade to the rear of the machine. Pricey but a lot cheaper than an ER visit.

Better to have a kid sew - it's still cheaper than a lesson some place.

Did you check this site out!!??!! Some really neat stuff, I know it's industrial but it could be useful to home sewers as well! Thanks for the site!

Suzag, I saw that site. I wonder what the minimum order would be on that? I highly doubt if they will sell me one or two or even 3........

I want to teach niece to sew and a finger guard sounds great. She is very creative and really wants to try her hand with fabric.

I gave my GD a Spartan with a finger guard. She LOVES LOVES LOVES it. And her sisters think it is way cool. Their eyes lit up when they saw that finger guard. Momma (DD) squelched it though. She says they have to learn to get the dishes clean when they wash them before they can use it. The oldest girl is 10 and she has been making doll quilts for her sisters. I think I would like it best if the finger guards were easy to see past. Some of those look rather large.

I found a small Singer machine for my GGD to use when she gets older that had a finger guard on it.
Picked it up at a thrift store.

delma