My latest sewing injury: needle through a finger
This post is for all my dear facebook fans who have expressed concern and shared their own sewing injuries. It seems that most of us had (or will) do this if we keep sewing long enough. (Plus we will chop off part of a finger with a rotary cutter.) Don’t worry, there will be no graphic photos here, no gory details captured on film. At the time I was too busy holding my finger and screaming for my husband to pull the broken needle tip out, that the thought of picking up a camera didn’t even cross my mind.
Here’s the scene of the accident… my beloved Bernina 1530. It was not her fault at all. She was just doing her job ruffling those silly little strips and I had the audacity to put my finger in her way. So of course as soon a my hubby found his pliers and took that bloody needle tip out (listen to me swearing in proper English while describing with accuracy), I insisted on sitting down to give her a new needle and make sure she was okay. She is.
Excuse the week old manicure while I show you the entry point. I know that some of you are still hoping for gory photos, but really it’s only the day after and from the outside you can barely tell anything happened.
I’ve been keeping band-aids and neosporin on it all the time and while it hurts really bad, it hasn’t kept me from sewing a bit today or typing up this blog post with nine fingers. It has caused me to un-intentionally flip off lots of people with a bandaged middle finger… you know how you instinctively hold up the one that hurts.
And here’s all the needle pieces I could find. The pointy tip is the one that came out of my finger while the other end was still in my machine. I shudder to think how much more it would have hurt if I had been using a heavy duty needle. This is only a 75/11. I can’t find any more parts, but I’m pretty sure nothing is left in my finger. There’s no sign of infection.
And from the stories told by some of you on facebook, I am pretty lucky that the missing piece didn’t fly up and hit me in the eye. That would have been a much worse injury.
So, words of advice that I probably won’t even follow for very long… slow down… take your foot off the pedal if you are putting your finger under the needle… and wear protective eye wear. 🙂
Thanks for all your love and concern… I knew you would understand my pain!
Oh, and it’s the last day of our fun Fabric Tree giveaway… the winner gets to pick from a darling girly bundle and a cute boyish bundle. {enter here!}
xoxo,
Disclosure: some of my posts contain affiliate links. If you purchase something through one of those links I may receive a small commission, so thank you for supporting SewCanShe when you shop! All of the opinions are my own and I only suggest products that I actually use. 🙂
I can feel your pain, I did this last fall. I went to emergency and they froze my finger and pulled out the needle with pliers. I guess it goes to show how quickly things can happen and I’m a little bit more careful now.
Ouch! I can’t imagine the freezing. I’m pretty sure I was in shock when my hubby pulled the needle tip out of my finger and that’s why I let him. Glad you’re okay!
OMG! This just gives me the shivers… I can’t imagine something like this happening…obviously you were in shock. I am going to be extra, extra careful because it could easily happen. Hope you’ll be ok.
Holy cow….OUCH! I am glad all is well now, but darn I can feel the pain. I will for sure slow down and watch a bit closer to what I am doing, I really don’t want to do that!
Are you better yet? Oh dear!!!
Thank you for asking, Liz! It’s pretty much better… only a spot on my fingernail now. You are very sweet to post.
Oh yes , I’ve done it too. Only difference is the needle broke and left part of it inside my finger which I could not pull out. 3 stitches needed. Glad you are healing well.
ouch Ginny! So sorry you had a harder time of it than me. Glad it didn’t stop you from sewing again!
Glad I’m not the only one….I’m sure it will be funny tomorrow! I was making my preschooler a 4 shirt for her birthday tomorrow and the poor thing teared up when she witnessed the nasty ordeal…no blood on the shirt though. Yay!
Just saw this, looks like two years later, but never mind! My first sewing incident, after about 30 years of sewing, left me staring at the broken needle and thread sitting through my fingernail. Missed the finger though! ? 🙂
I’m 13 and I got a machine for my birthday and 2 days after opening it and setting it up it happened to me
omg this EXACT same thing happened to me last night. same finger too. i was pulling the fabric tight to sew closed the elastic seam and bam… all the sudden the needle broke. i thought it had just poked my middle finger but it wasn’t till a few minutes later i realized the tip was IN my finger sticking out!!! we sterilized plyers and got it out thankfully but i am still in so much pain!!
This happened to me in sewing class in high school (about 15 years ago), but it was right through the top-center of my finger instead of the side like yours. I started daydreaming while sewing, and next thing I knew I heard a loud crunch (which was probably the needle breaking.) I stood up while holding my impaled finger at eye-level and calmly told the teacher "I think I sewed my finger." She must have realized I was in shock and she held me and walked me to the nurse’s office. The nurse just pulled the needle out, put a bandaid on and sent me back to class. I was so sure at the time that it was a much more serious injury, but it healed fine and I thought the hole in my nail was pretty cool once it grew past my finger tip.
Im twelve. And two years ago i got a needle stuck STRAIGHT THROUGH MY FINGER. It really hurt. I’m afraid to sew again because i dont want this to happen to me… Any suggestions?
Hi Naomi,
That’s awful! And I totally know how it feels. 🙁
But now that you’ve learned how important it is to keep your finger away from the needle… don’t give up! Pick another project that you really want to try and get sewing.
Good luck!
Caroline
So, I was in my Family and Consumer’s Science class… and…I sewed through my nail.
At least 10 minutes ago. Now, it hurts, but I didn’t tell the teacher. I didn’t want to ruin her streak of no-sewed-fingers. But honestly, I didn’t see the nurse either. I have MAP testing in 10 minutes and I can’t focus.
Any suggestions?
//whoops, spelt my name wrong on the previous comment..
Hi McKenna – ouch! I’m so sorry! If you only sewed through the nail, you are fine, but I am guessing that you sewed through some finger with the nail??? If so, you need to make sure that there is no metal left in your finger. Did any pieces of the needle break off in your finger? Squeeze and press the injury until you are sure – if there is any piece of the needle left in your finger, you need to see a doctor asap to have it removed. If there are no foreign objects left, then you need to worry about infection. I soaked my finger in peroxide daily to keep infection away and also applied neosporin with a bandage to keep it clean. If you see any signs of infection or a piece of the needle still in your finger, please tell someone and get medical attention. Hope you get better quickly!
xoxo,
Caroline
I had the same thing happen but mine won’t seem to heal… it’s been 3 months and it still hurts. There is some hard black something in the wound hole… Advice?
Oh, my goodness! Please go see a doctor. I could tell that mine was a clean puncture wound with no debris left inside and no infection. It sounds like medical attention is needed for you – unfortunately. Hope you can get it healed quickly! xoxo
Exact thing happened to me today. Just when I was getting excited about finally getting a hang of using my machine..( sewing newbie . About 2months old)
On antibiotics and maybe a tetanus shot.
I was cleaning out a box a little needle went through the side of my finger bled for a second now have a huge lump on centre if finger will it heal on its own please help
Hi Nic,
I suggest that you see a doctor immediately! It sounds like even though the wound was small it may have left something inside your finger, or at the very least there is an infection.
xoxo,
Caroline
I sewed right through my finger this afternoon during my advanced sewing class. I have muscle spasms and today during class were we sewing pieces of cloth together ad I had one a spasm. I had my fingers near the needle because I was threading it and when I had the spasm my hand jolted upward right when my middle finger was right under the needle and the needle went right through my fingernail, skin and bone. It was pretty deep too. My finger was towards the top of the needle. I was bleeding so bad and my fingernail was spit in half, and I was freaking out and my teacher was asking me how deep it was and I couldn’t look at it but I knew it was deep enough that it went through the bone because whenn i moved it the slightest bit i could feel it scaping. i now have a small hole on each side of my finger and a hole through my bone. it is doing better now and it hurts so bad!!!!!!! so anybody who has sewed their finger with a sewing needle i now know ho it feels and it sucks. to anybody who has this type of injury, Make SURE the is NO DEBRI in the hole soak it in poroxid and put a bandaid on it ith some antibiotical cream and take sports tape and wrap your finger and do the same thing for three weeks ad if the wound has still not healed SEE A DOCTOR IMMEADITLLY!!! becuase there could be an infenction or flud bolocking the hole from closing or some other things. just make sure to take care of it.