Broken Needles

It has happened to all of us at least once (or a hundred times). You are sewing along and clunk! – your needle breaks. Sometimes the reason is obvious and sometimes it’s a mystery, but it is always something that demands your attention. It’s more than just a nuisance. It stops you in your tracks and you must take care of it before you can continue to stitch. You also need to assess if there is any damage beyond the broken needle. Depending on why the needle broke, there is the possibility of damage to the machine. It may affect the timing, which means that the machine will not form a stitch. You also need to make sure you recover all parts of the needle because even as tiny as the broken point may be, it can become lodged in the wrong place and keep the working parts of your machine from moving as they should when you sew.My friend Sara at SewingMastery.com has come up with 15(!) reasons a sewing machine needle breaks. Understanding why needles break can help you avoid this problem or make it easy to troubleshoot the situation if/when it does happen. Click here or on the image below to see Sara explain the 15 reasons a sewing machine may needle break. Take a look at her list and see how many of these sewing situations have caused you to need a new needle in the past and how you can avoid this in the future.