Finding a Lost Needle Tips: How to Find a Needle in Carpet
Looking for that proverbial needle in a haystack takes on new meaning when you are in the middle of a sewing project with a short deadline. Sometimes it is just best to have a few spares handy and let the lost needle stay lost until your project is done. Just be careful not to step on it.
How to Find a Needle in Carpet: One good way to find a lost needle is to call the kids or the grandkids into your room and have them search for it. Their eyes are better than yours in most cases. Or if you have carpeting on your floor, a strong magnet will do the trick and find that needle before it does any harm.
To read more about finding lost needles, just continue to read our article. it has the tips and tricks you need to know about in order to protect your feet. Take a few moments and get up to speed on this vital sewing issue.
Finding a Needle 101
How do You Find a Lost Needle?
There are lots of ways to use to find a lost needle. One way is to get on all fours and put your head close to the floor and look. This may take too much time but it is better than getting stuck with the needle accidentally.
Another way to look for needles is to look inside the pincushion. One sewer found out that her kids would push the needles inside the cushion as sort of a game and joke on her. When you can’t find them on the floor, check the kids, and see if they have been bored recently.
Or you should check your clothing. Needles are small and thin for the most part and when they fall, they can find the tiniest spots to seek shelter. One place will be in the cuff of your pants.
While you are checking these unique hiding places, pick up a strong magnet, and slowly go over the area where you thought it might drop. Magnets are probably the best tool you can use, other than your foot, to find a needle.
Then look for needles very carefully as they are expert hiders and often have their sharp ends pointing up.
Is a Sewing Needle Magnetic?
Generally, yes they are magnetic. Most, if not all, needles are made from steel. That means you can use a magnet to find your lost needles. There may be the odd occasion where needles have been made from non-magnetic materials but those are not common.
Using a magnetic is also a very easy tool to use. All you have to do is make sure the magnetic strength is high and then move your hand slowly over the area where you think the needle went.
The drawback to this method is that the needle may have bounced on you. Just because it is made of steel does it mean that the needle will drop straight down. Its lightweight and thin size make sure the needle can find the most awkward, dangerous, hiding place possible.
The magnet should cut your search time down and pick up the needle for you so you do not have to waste more time trying to get that thin sewing item between your nice long nails.
How to Find a Needle in a Carpet
There are several good options you can choose from when you do not want to use your feet, hands, or knees to find that lost needle. That method is a bit painful as well. If you do not have a magnet handy simply go to your husband’s workbench or tool storage and look for a tool that picks up lost screws.
This tool is magnetized to pick up steel metal screws that do the exact same thing as needles do-find the weirdest places to hide. What makes these better than a magnet is that they have a flexible body so you can twist it to fit around corners, under tables or sofas, and so on.
Another good idea is to use your vacuum cleaner. Place a thin nylon sock over the hose opening or your attachment nozzle and vacuum the carpet where you think the needled felt. Once you find the needle it should stick to the nylon sock until you turn the vacuum off.
Other ideas include using a flashlight and watching for the reflection. Or you can use your child’s (or husband’s) metal detector. That item should be strong enough to detect the needle.
How to Find a Needle in Your Bed
Believe it or not, there are some people who hand stitch while laying on their bed. it helps relax them and get ready to go to sleep. But there will be those times when something happens and the needle will drop out of sight somewhere on your covers or inside the bed.
The same methods already described in the previous section will work here. There is little difference between a carpet and a bedspread, blankets, and sheets. You could try feeling those bedding items with your hands as well if you think you won’t stab yourself.
A magnet will do the trick as well or you can simply wash and dry the sheets hoping that the needle will get caught in the lint trap or be washed down the drain of your washer.
Then the needle may not have fallen in your bed. it could be in your robe, clothing, or simple fell to the floor or magically landed in your sewing basket if that is close by.
Lost Needle in a Sewing Machine
The visions that come of the damage that can be done if you do not find that lost needle that fell into your sewing machine. None of those visions are nice nor do they come with wonderful results. How you get the needle out will depend on where it fell.
If it fell beneath the needle plate then all you have to do is remove the screw, open up that area and either use a magnet or turn the machine upside down and have the needle fall out.
Or you can remove the bobbin race and fish for the needle through that opening. It is not always going to be easy when the needle falls into the machine. What is even more difficult is when the needle breaks and only a small portion of it fell into the machine.
Small pieces have so many more places they can go and hide.
How to Find a Needle in Grass
This will be similar to trying to find a needle in your carpeting. Only it may not be so easy. The needle is small and thin and grass provides even more hiding places for your needle to fall into.
If you have along enough extension cord, use the vacuum cleaner trick first. That will have the power to suck up the needle and trap it against the nylon sock. Be prepared to clean up a lot of dirt from that sock as well.
Some sewers have said to send the husband in as their feet seem to find those needles in less than ten seconds. Sometimes you can drop a second needle and see where it ended up. This may be funny to some people but it does work from time to time.
A magnet will work as well and may be the second fastest way to find the lost needle.
Lost Needle in Knitting
The go-to answer will always be to get your magnet and start sweeping the knitting. magnets are about the best tool to use in these situations as it is quick, easy and does not harm your knitting yarn.
You can use a flashlight and see if you can see the gleam that bounces off the steel needle. The flashlight method will also not damage your yarn. Or you could take the risk and use your hands to carefully feel around the yarn to see if they locate the hiding place.
The vacuum cleaner method and the metal detector option will work as well although the vacuum may damage or dirty your yarn. Also, the magnetic tool for finding dropped screws is a good option to use. It shouldn’t damage your yarn unless it is greasy or dirty.
What is The Recommendation for Picking up Dropped Needles and Pins?
There are a lot of good options you can use to pick up dropped needles and pins. The best of all the recommendations would be magnetic. Not only will it find those metal items but the magnet will hold onto them until you remove them.
Just make sure to remove those pins in a safe spot so that if you drop them again, they won’t go far. The next best recommendation would be using your husband's screw finding tool. Its end is magnetized and it can be adjusted to get into those tight spots needles can fall into.
A third good choice would be the vacuum cleaner. The only real drawback to this method is that you will have to reach for the needle and pull it out of the dirt that the vacuum picks up as well.
The metal detector should be the last resort. Not because it is a bad idea but because it may not work in every situation.
What Happens if a Sewing Needle Goes in Your Body?
There are a lot of what-if situations that can occur. The first probable and most likely situation that will arise is that you will feel the pain and scream. Or at least shout. That is the best scenario you can hope for.
There was a situation where a young girl laid down on the carpet to watch tv and when she did, she immediately cried out in pain. her parents did not find anything but a little red blood dot where the needle pricked her.
The little girl kept complaining of constant pain in her arm. Upon x-ray, the doctors found that the needle had traveled up her arm to a point just above her wrist. it is doubtful that the needle would have made it to her heart but being in her arm was bad enough.
The damage a needle can do inside your body is real if left unattended. Exactly what it can do will depend on the situation. But it would be hard for the needle to reach your heart due to the many twists and turns the veins and other body parts take.
Tips to Avoid Losing Needles
One way to avoid losing your needle is to prevent them from breaking in the first place. Broken needles are as sharp as whole ones but a little harder to see. There are 5 ways to avoid breaking your needle:
- Use the correct needle
- Do not pull on the fabric as you sew
- Clean your sewing machine
- Watch the needle alignment
- Don’t sew over pins
Then you can use a magnetic pin cushion to hold your needles. Or do not absent-mindedly place them somewhere in the fabric, or your clothing. In addition, keep your kids from playing with your sewing equipment.
Just use some common sense. That will be your best defense against losing needles. Then if they do get dropped and lost, you may find them about 6 feet away. Steel needles are not heavy and can bounce far.
Some Final Words
Dropped and lost needles are a fact of sewing life. Just be prepared and do not get upset when it happens to you. Have a magnet on hand or your vacuum cleaner ready to go so you do not lose a lot of time searching for that needle.
Picking that lost needle up quickly is important when you have pets around the house.
