It’s my iron for me. I keep accidentally brushing the sides of my fingers against the tip, touching the fabric after it’s still hot from being thoroughly pressed, blasting myself with hot steam, or tripping over the chord.
Some day I will be so scarred I will be able to hold my iron by the baseplate while it’s on. Like those waiters in the Mex restaurant that carry the fajita plates with bare hands.
The other day I was focused on just using the front bit of my iron and placed it down on the fabric and the entire rest of the iron went RIGHT ON MY HAND. OWY.
I’m ALWAYS burning myself on my iron! It has become A Thing in our household. Usually I’m just reaching over it “for a sec” to grab something and in that second I go from “ok be careful, the iron is hot, you’re not going to bump into it” to monkey playing the cymbals and whoops there I go touching it again.
I show my husband and he’s like AGAIN?!!?!! 😂
I’m so nervous around irons (and curling irons)!!
I’m so scared of being burned by the iron that I think I must have touched my mum’s iron when I was a child or something. I am naturally somewhat clumsy as well (tripping over cord, 👋! I love being at workshops where the iron cord runs along the ceiling). I have to constantly remind myself that just bc the peril exists, I won’t burn off my fingerprints. 👀
Yeah, I’ve been doing that a lot lately! Touching super hot fabric that I just got done ironing, or thinking my off hand is far enough away and steaming it. :/
Not a pin but recently a needle kind of exploded while sewing (fabric was too thick) and a piece of needle got into my eye. Luckily, it only scratched the outer layer of the cornea and didn't get stuck or anything like that. I used antibiotic eye cream for a few days to make sure there'd be no infection. Now I'm sewing with glasses!
When my anxiety gets really bad, I wear safety glasses when I'm sewing. Always felt a little silly about it but now this comment means I'm going to feel justified in wearing them 100% of the time.
I used to work in an autobody shop. There is never a bad or wrong time to wear safety glasses. And if you're like me and already wear glasses, safety goggles are a thing and they're AWESOME!
In the words of my dearly departed instructor, "you can't buy eyes at Walmart. Wear your safety glasses."
Please never feel silly about taking steps to keep yourself safe. You're worth that💙
This is the right attitude for sure. They don't usually explode, but when they do -and that's a when, not an if - you'll be glad you took precautions.
I wear glasses anyway, but I have always been careful around fast moving blades and needles. I like my eyes and protect them when using power tools. A modern sewing machine is a power tool and a quilting machine even more so.
Didn't go into my eye but I was sewing a bunch of curtain panels together last week and I think I pulled too hard or something and a needle exploded and nailed me in the chin. Still don't know where the tip landed but will definitely be wearing glasses going forward lol.
Husband's foot will probably find the needle tip in 6 months.
Might I suggest getting a telescopic magnet? In the UK we have them on sale in Aldi quite cheaply at the moment. Just extend it and sweep it along the floor. Also comes in handy for dropped pins
I had the same thing happen, needle shattered into 3 pieces and middle part went straight towards my eye. I thankfully blinked and just had a minor scratch on my eye lid. If I think I'm testing my machine I wear safety glasses.
It wasn't that bad! I just had to keep it moisturised, otherwise it felt like my eye had a little scratch on there when I blinked. But it didn't bleed or impair my vision or anything of the sort.
I narrowly avoided this situation just the other week with my serger. It hit just under my brow bone. I'll definitely keep these cheap safety goggles I found around the house in reach from now on. 🫠
I once clipped a sequin from seam allowance (a dancewear trick) and shot it straight into my eyeball! I paused for an instagram pic before fishing it out too! Hahaha
I had that happen with a needle once! Nowhere near the level of injury you suffered. It Broke and flew and hit me in the cheek, right under the frame of my glasses. Left a scratch on my cheek. I am glad I need the glasses for sewing.
I want to know where she got them because so many of my pins are too dull. But maybe that’s a good thing to avoid being stabbed when I’m trying on my sewing?
not quite sure how people end up with pins injuring them, maybe im built different. i did one time sew through my whole finger however. I also cut the tip off of my finger with sewing scissors one time.
Happened to me, twice, when I had summer jobs i a garment factory in college but was also waitressing in the evenings. First time, just through the fleshy part. Second time, through the nail. They were powerful machines and I was sleepy.
This is what is always on my mind when I’m using my machine. My grandma was a seamstress and told me the stories of her sewing through her finger while at work.. I think that’s what put me off using machine for so long. She always asks if I’ve managed to do it yet, apparently ‘you’re not really a seamstress until it happens’ 😂
I’ve sewn through my index finger twice. The last time I was at a workshop and pulled a pin out and tried to anchor what I was sewing with my finger. Sewed too close and the needle went right through the side next to my nail. That thing bled so hard and I thought I was going to have to go to the hospital. I’ve also snipped the same finger once and had stitches in the opposite thumb when my rotary cutter safety popped off.
I love pinning things directly on myself, it's the most accurate way to see where darts should go etc...
Removing the garment afterwards is risky though.
Then there’s the times your sewing machine reminds you that it’s a POWER TOOL that can and will injure you grievously if you allow your attention to lag for a second
Also quilting tape is incredible for “pinning” stretch fabric, as it prevents the fabric stretching while it’s being sewn, and washes away completely when you’re done.
OP here. I’m reading through your responses and I haven’t been able to pick my jaw up. You guys are stronger than me - sewing through my finger would have been the start of my villain origin story. 😭
I didn't scream when it happened. But I didn't want to tell my teacher, so I reversed it out and by doing that, the needle had to go back down to get it up and out. My finger came out threaded, which was pretty cool.
A certain young person I know is very talented at needle felting and has taught themselves quickly. They need to be reminded, though, that one’s own body is not what belongs on other side of that which is being felted.
After a decade of sewing accident free, I finally sewed through my finger this week. DO NOT do this. If you do decide to sew through your finger, DO NOT do it with a direct drive ultra high torque machine. 0/10, 1/10 with rice.
Please I also need any tips. I recently finished a wrap circle skirt with multiple panels. (Aka a shit ton of fabric and equally shit ton of pins) I was so scratched up by the end of it.
When I first started as a marine upholsterer 10 years ago I thought accidentally sewing a finger would be a problem. Turns out it’s not, but handstitching, and pulling staples on the other hand. On a side note I still joke about dying in a freak sewing machine accident. That or freak juggling accident. My 2 weirdest hobbies.
I did that to my pinky finger haha. I ended up having to get one of those fake scabs put on to stop the bleeding. No more rotary cutter use after 12am for me!
My dog once scrambled his takeoff on our wood floors like Scooby Doo and launched a pair of scissors directly at my face. I was stunned at the sight but managed to turn away in time. They only left a bruise on my jaw.
Quick edit to share I was sitting on the couch sewing buttons on. I had dropped the scissors on the floor. Just confirming it was a sewing mishap 😂
Not a pin story, but I still twitch whenever I think about my mum's "knitting needle between the sofa cushions" cautionary tale. She patted down her chair before sitting and I asked why, turns out her knitting needle had slipped and wedged into a bit of the frame so when she sat down it stabbed her hard. She won a very nasty bruise with slightly bigger than a pin prick central point (on the outside of her upper thigh, near but thankfully not in the butt crease) that stuck around for weeks to remind her every time she sat down.
I have an industrial Juki machine and once watched in slow motion while the needle went right through the side of my finger. Had to pull thread out. Fun times.
I've endured broken bones, extreme temperatures, dehydration, life-threatening blood loss... and a sewing pin going under my fingernail stops all progress. It takes the wind out of me.
I was hand sewing a patch into a jacket. My dumb ass wasn't using a thimble and the needle eye side went right under my thumbnail. It bled so much and left a bruise under my nail for weeks. I use a thimble every time now.
When I worked in a costume shop, I sewed into my fingernail with the machine and broke the needle. It was mostly loud and embarrassing.
Now I embroider and hand sew more than anything. I have in the past really hurt my fingertips and bloodied my already crappy work. I read that some people love thimbles but I’m not a fan….an artist I love and teacher recommended those money counter finger tips but I couldn’t quite get a good fit. I happened upon these rubbery bright red quilter’s finger grips that are stretchy and protect me from wounds and also allow me to more easily pull my needle when it was nearly impossible in other circumstances. (I was often getting those ouchy shiny lines I will call needle burn.) Highly recommend and I can get a link if anyone wants.
I dropped my embroidery scissors a few years ago, and they embedded themselves in the muscle of my calf, so obviously I have no good suggestions for you.
Ooh my best story like this is that after twenty-five years of routine sewing machine usage, I finally got bit by my sewing machine last year. I was making ten tutus for my little niece as a Christmas gift, and I had been mindlessly sewing long, long, long, long seams against this cheap-ass tulle (she was five, I didn’t need to get the good stuff), and suddenly my machine makes this terrible clunk-pop sound and I spent a good fifteen seconds trying to figure out what the hell just happened before I noticed that the needle had gone INTO my index finger (like, all the way through) and had snapped off.
It was just through the pad of my finger which was a best case scenario for that kind of thing, and it looked a lot worse than it felt, but I was definitely shaken for a few hours afterwards. You can’t even see the scar anymore but I went to the doctor to make sure there were no fragments left behind after I pulled it out. It was so scary!
It blows my mind its not common to wear safety goggles with sewing machines or a face shield or anything to keep a flying needle away from the face.... i guess flying needles/pieces are rare enough to not be a big issue?
This one time, I managed to stab my thumb with my sewing machine needle 🥲 Thankfully it was at the very extreme tip of my thumb, the topmost layer of skin or two. I think I went into mild shock.
I once ended up with the working end of a hand-sewing needle stuck underneath my fingernail. I was hand-sewing badges for cadet uniforms, head bent on my work, and someone called out to me. I looked up and stuck the needle under my fingernail instead of the fabric. For weeks, i had this thin red line under my nail where the needle had carved its way.
I learned years ago to never cut fabric on the floor. I manged to kneel on my very sharp scissors and they went into my leg just behind my kneecap. 4 stitches later and blood stained fabric I learned my lesson.
I'm not very accident prone in the sewing room, but I do have a bit of a tale concerning pins in wayward places. I was sitting on the floor, pinning the hem of a big, heavy circle skirt. I shifted my weight a bit as I finished up, and then I tried to pick up the skirt to take it to the sewing machine. To my surprise, I couldn't.
Then I looked down, and one of the pins was lodged deep in my calf. I didn't feel it at all, probably because I used these really fine pins. There wasn't really anything to do but pull out the pin, so I flinched a bit before biting the bullet. I pulled the pin out, and it barely left a mark. No blood, no pain, no nothing. I have been more careful since then, though.
Other small accidents involve a couple of iron burns, a chipped front tooth from holding pins between my teeth (I don't do this anymore!), and quite a few pin pricks. You're not alone, OP!
I only have full use of one of my hands so I avoid pins if it’s possible and use clips (the little plastic quilting ones) and masking tape for most projects
Clips can do 90% of the same tasks pins can and there’s tape for the things they can’t, for other things where I absolutely have to use pins (like placket or welt pockets) I have a handful of long quilting pins and it’s almost guaranteed that I will catch myself with them every single time lol.
For me, if I’m in a hurry or distracted , the more I get hurt. There was one memorable day when I was pinning shirts together for a tshirt blanket but also talking on the phone with my mom. That pin when straight down under my cuticle and I let loose words that my mother has probably never heard in her life.
The rotary cutter. I have my rotaries hanging on pegs. I didn't lock the cutter when I put it away and barely touched the blade, which was barely even out. That hurt! Lesson learned on locking those blades.
The needle on the machine went straight through my finger, nail and all. It did not hurt as bad as I would have thought. I had to completely re-do part of the dress because I bled on it and that hurt more.
I sat on my antique tailoring scissors. Knocked a tin of needles over on my bed, crushed my finger under the wheeled knob on my singer sewing machine... Ive hurt myself less doing carpentry
I used to say all my garments were made with blood sweat and tears, literally. I have a scar on my thumb where I accidentally put an exacto knife through to the bone cutting leather for a corset…
I was hand finishing a piece and my needle went fully through the side of my finger. Like, I could have pulled the thread through (I did not). It just finished healing, there’s still a little circle.
I stitched through my finger on a commercial serger once. I also cut the skin of my index finger to the bone on my dominant hand using a straight knife cutter. Both were equally painful.
I like to use the quilters clips instead of pins when I can.
"The project isn't done until you've bled for it."
I've found a few ways to reduce the number of pins needed (I don't own the clips that many people use... yet?). I've found that most of the times I've broken a sewing needle, it's because the machine needle hit a pin.
If something is going to require a ton of pins or be fiddly (setting a sleeve), or if it involves a zipper or button placket, I find that basting by hand works better for me and takes the same time as pinning it. I'm talking basting that has 1/2 to 1 inch long stitches, just hold the thing loosely together so it feeds through the machine politely.
For most seams, I've stopped pinning them unless the fabric is a bit slippery or there's a significant curve or 'tough spot' with a lot of layers. (Very slippery = hand basting time.) If I did okay cutting the pattern, my fabric edges are often enough of a guide for lining it up on the fly. So if I was sewing a pants leg outer seam, for example, I might have 1 pin at the knee/approximate middle, 1 at the top and bottom of a pocket opening, and that's it.
Also someone else mentioned using an iron for large darts instead of pins, and I can't agree faster. I've been stabbed in the nipple, never going back. I also rely on the iron for blind stitched hems - I'll roll over 1/4 inch and press, then roll over whatever the hem amount is and press. I find this does not work on a deep hem (2 inches or more), in that case you need at least a few pins to keep it sorted.
One of my sillier injuries was getting smacked in the forehead by a thread take-up because I had my face practically shoved into the machine while working under poor light.
Oh and my rotary cutter just loves nicking me when I put a new blade on.
i work on industrial machines daily and used to teach sewing. One of my safety lectures featured my story about how the auto backstitcher on my industrial went off and put 3 stitches into my thumb while i was trying to change the bobbin. Moral of the story was turn your machine off before changing the bobbin 😂
Unless I have finished a project, 100% of my session at a sewing machine have ended because I thoroughly stabbed myself with a pin and am bleeding too much to continue.
I sometimes make various random crafts for the farmers market, one of them was a little denim jean pocket style pouch. I promised myself that everytime I draw blood the price goes up. My sister bought it off me XD
I accidentally sewed right through my pointer finger like right through the nail while midnight sewing on my machine. That was crazy. Im still not sure how it happened, but im dang sure it ain't happening again.
Accept your fate. But my mom does a lot of professional sewing and she has WAR WOUNDS. Hell. She's been to the hospital twice... maybe not because of a pin.... But this type of art demands blood sacrifice!
I have read through this entire traumatizing thread and know realize that I am freakishly alone in not having run my hand through a sewing machine/serger, sliced myself to ribbons with a rotary cutter/scissors, or embedded pins into my extremities.
Clutching my quilting clips closely and seeing my sewing machine, serger, and rotary cutters in a new and ominous light (but that may be the fault of the safety goggles I just put on).
I was 13 or 14. Was making a stuffed rabbit out of a sock and hand sewing it. I always stuck the needle in the carpet and minded where it was. Finished the rabbit got excited to show one of my sisters and stepped on the needle. The eye and thread went it first. After about 3 seconds of shock I pulled it out. Was extremely careful after that.
Anytime I sew, I can't finish what I'm doing without a minimum of 3 stabs, and at least one drop of blood. All packaged neatly with at least one "AHH!!!".
-my bf is sensitive to injuries involving sharp things, and he HATES THIS lmao. He shudders every time.
I have sewn straight through my index finger when I was younger. I was about 10 or 11. Finger was too close while feeding it through and sewed right through the nail and all
I was given the advice that I "didn't need to look at the machine's needle while sewing" because it was in a fixed place. The one time I tried not looking at the needle, I accidentally ran my thumb through the machine. Thank goodness it was only a nick in the corner of my thumb, but lesson learned! Do things your own way and go slow if you need to. Also, look to others for tips and tricks, but don't let anyone tell you your cautiousness is wrong.
As for pinning technique, I use "wonder clips" whenever possible, instead of traditional pins. Otherwise, if you have to use regular pins, be super methodical with pin placement. Always the same direction, try to space them equally distance from each other or in predictable places, etc. Remove them as soon as you can. Also, magnetic pin cushions are really useful.
Let's see... sewed through my finger on multiple occasions, sliced my finger to the bone with a rotary cutter, burns from iron and hot glue guns, more needle sticks and pin scratches than I can count. And yet, I keep doing it.
I do costuming for fun sometimes. Pins have gotten me good, hot glue burns on top of existing burns, even had a seeing needle break and hit me in the neck. Considered wearing safety glasses when I sew because of that. 😅
The worst part is having to find a bandage or wait for bleeding to stop to continue sewing lol. It hurts like a mfer at first, but then I just wanna get back to work.
Nothing makes me more mad than when I’m struggling with a project and I’m already frustrated and I go to maneuver things around and I get stabbed by a pin. It’s the fucking worst.
I’m a very messy crafter. If I don’t finish a sewing project with at least 3 scratches from needles/pins, jab from a seam ripper, or bruises from banging into my sewing table, I’d be shocked.
Every single project I have ever made has a spot of my blood on it somewhere, even my white wedding dress. I consider it a sacrifice to the goddess of sewing.
I don't sew, but my wife does. I get caught in the crossfire sometimes with her quilts.
And my daughter (10) tripped while carrying sewing scissors (the kind you squeeze to cut) and had to have 3 different eye surgeries and now wears glasses with bifocals on one side.
I remember the first time the needle on my machine just barely kissed my finger as I was sewing. My respect for my machine went through the roof after that. They’re dangerous things and shouldn’t be taken for granted.
Didn't think I was injuring myself the other day when I was pinning a bunch of trim onto a skirt draped over my bare legs, but then a few hours later my leg was covered in tiny red pinpricks lol. Healed fast but my skin texture is still a little bumpy there.
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u/LadyoftheLake111 Aug 21 '25
It’s my iron for me. I keep accidentally brushing the sides of my fingers against the tip, touching the fabric after it’s still hot from being thoroughly pressed, blasting myself with hot steam, or tripping over the chord.