Quilting and Sewing Safety Issues

When I was in the US Air Force, we always received safety briefings, usually at least once a week, and sometimes every day, depending on where we worked. Safety was paramount in the Air Force. We did not want people getting injured. And the equipment that we worked with, definitely was dangerous. So, safety was a vital concern. I remember one commander I had said, his favorite phrase was, "safety first, safety last, safety always." We got sick of hearing it but it stuck. And I still remember it to this day, in fact, it became a mantra that I taught my kids, to try and get them to be more safety-oriented as they were growing up. We don't think of safety in our quilt room, but we should. There are several instruments and implements that are rather dangerous. Who hasn't sewn over their finger with the sewing machine? Very, very painful. Who hasn't stepped on a pin going barefoot in the sewing room and the pin's lodged in the carpet, and it goes up through the foot, just ask my husband. So, safety is an issue. And one of the most dangerous tools that we have, is our pizza wheel, the rotary cutter. We don't think of it as being dangerous, it's innocuous looking and it's a simple little tool. But this can really inflict damage, and ask me how I know. One day I was upstairs working on a quilt, just like this squaring up my edges. And all of a sudden the rotary cutter jumped the ruler 'cause I was pressing hard. It jumped the ruler, and I cut literally a third of my fingertip off. Nobody was home, I live in the mountains. And fortunately, my neighbor across the street was available and they took me into the emergency room for stitches. No, I didn't bleed on the quilt. That was the important thing. But I learned a couple of very valuable lessons because although they were able to reattach the tip of my finger, I have absolutely no feeling in this side of my finger at all today. I think of power tools as cutting off fingers. I never would have thought that a rotary cutter could also do the job. Where I made my mistake. My blade was starting to get dull. And instead of taking the 30 seconds to change it out, I decided to be frugal like many of us are, and finish up working on at least this quilt. So, when your blade is dull you are pressing much harder and it's more likely to jump. The other thing that I did, was I was using my large rotary cutter. And this is a 60 millimeter. It's my favorite tool and we're still friends. But if you look at the 45, there's quite a difference there. And you can see here the depth of the blade compared to your 45. The reason for that, if you look at the other side here, is because that's so you can cut thicker layers of fabric at once, as opposed to your 45 millimeter, without having to press quite as hard. But that also means that it's going to take off more of a finger and go deeper than what the 45 will. Although the 45 can definitely inflict a lot of damage too. So, number one, change your blades frequently. Do not let them get dull. Number two. When you are cutting, don't hold your hand right next to the ruler. Move it back so that even if it comes over, you've got a little bit of a safety margin there and you won't lose part of your finger like I did. Better yet, instead of using that particular ruler, I like to, whenever I can, especially if I'm cutting lengths of fabric and strips across the width of the fabric, I like to use this ruler. It's by finger guard, and that's exactly what this is. It is a finger guard so that you can come here, you can cut your fabric, and there is no way, unless you're really a klutz, that this is going to go over the edge and cut your fingers. When we think of safety, think about the type of rotary cutter that you're using. There's all different styles, and they all have some type of a guard on them. This one, you have to pull it back, and then click it forward. This one has a lock that you push one way and you're able to engage the blade, and when you're done, you'd lock it and it's not engaged. It's only as good as you remembering to engage the the guard though. I charge a quarter in my classes, if I walk around and I see a rotary cutter like that on a table. And people may think I'm paranoid, but, I have seen cases where the rotary cutter falls off the table. Somebody is wearing sandals, open-toed shoes, or barefoot. And there's a very large artery on the top of your foot that could get cut. If nothing else, you're still going to have a nasty cut on your foot. I worry about little children in our sewing rooms. If that blade falls off the table or worse yet, if they pick it up and cut themselves. That's why I like this particular one because you have to physically unlock it to use it. Or this one, it's pretty easy to slide. So, little things to think about. We had a girl in class one time who related a story that she was working on the floor in her sewing room, cutting fabrics, and the fabric had all gotten spread around and she couldn't find the rotary cutter. And as she was looking forward and scooching around, she managed to cut her bum with a rotary cutter that was open and stashed behind her. So you never know when and where this little evil tool will decide to bite. So, keep in mind, safety first, safety last, safety always, in our sewing rooms, because I want to keep you sewing rather on fabric than having the doctor stitch you up.