Needle Guard update

I spoke to my local dealer today. The needle guard is used mainly to keep fingers safe...there is an opening at the top of the guard so the needle could still fly up. He suggested that wearing safety glasses would be the best, especially for this project . He also thought that because I was breaking so many needles that something might be misaligned on my machine. He wanted me to check and make sure that the needle is going up and down properly and not off center. It does appear to me that everything is alright.... Or.... I might also be using the wrong needle. I started with an 80/12, but that wasn't working very well..... the fabric was too thick. I switched to a 90/14 stretch. The fabric does have stretch but now that I re-check the fabric again, maybe not enough for this type of needle- oops. So I will change to a 90/14 universal needle and see if it makes a difference. I have a feeling it will :) I am not one for dramatics, but this actually did put a scare into me, so I think I will, for now, wear safety glasses when I sew. It's one of those things that is so simple to do but can make such a big difference.

Happy Sewing!

Ann

Needle Guards

Does any one sew with a needle guard on their machine?

Picture from Husqvarnaviking.com

Tomorrow I'm buying a guard......so tomorrow I will answer.........."Yes- I do"!

I had a bit of a scare last night. I was sewing and the needle broke. I know - happens to everyone, it really doesn't sound like a big deal. Normally the needle just breaks and partly stays in the machine, hooked up on the thread, falls into the bobbin area! This time a piece of the needle flew into my eye. Ouch! I carefully removed it ( with hubby's help). Lucky for me it only scratched my eye. There was no damage done. It was just irritable most of the night. This is the first time something like this has ever happened to me.

My "Designer 1" machine really can handle the layers of fabric, but for some reason this was the third needle I broke since starting my coat.

When I took a class from a local college, we had to wear safety glasses when using the industrial machines. I think a needle guard at home will be fine. Not sure if it will be annoying but I'm going to give it a try cause it really did scare me.