tip of the day – unsticking sticky needles

I haven’t had a chance to finish the tutorial on the embroidered butterflies, so I thought I’d post a quick tip for sewing machines

I find that when I’m sewing fabric that has heat-fusible or spray adhesive on it, my sewing machine needle can gum up.  The needle generates a lot of friction, which heats up the glue.

What happens when heat-sensitive glue melts?  It gets all over everything!

I’ve found that keeping a cotton ball & a bottle of alcohol-based hand sanitizer next to my machine really helps reduce the gummies.   Just put a little dab on the cotton ball and rub the unthreaded needle with it.  The alcohol dissolves the glue & dries fast so you don’t need to worry about the needle rusting.

Just test the needle to make sure it’s dry & then thread it back up