Once I chose a career making clothing, it became clear I would hurt myself more often, if such a thing was possible. I burned myself daily with the irons and steamers. Once, like an idiot, I steamed a dress I was wearing and ended up with a burn on my thigh that was 2 rows of tiny circles from the holes on the head of the steamer. I have matching scars on each forearm from holding an iron with my wrist bent too far forward. Years ago, I decided to always carry antibiotic ointment, band-aids, and burn cream. I'd like to say these things are just a precaution but the truth is I use them more than I should admit.
The really embarrassing times are when I require help from others. Once, when I was working in a Broadway shop, I was hand sewing fur trim on Santa's hat with a leather needle and I pushed it right into my palm, through a vein and hitting bone. It was so gross. I don't tend to be bothered by the pain of an injury, but more grossed out at how it looks. I remember running up to my boss, holding my hand out, and dancing from one foot to the other saying "Fix it! Fix it!". It was gushing blood so she had to actually wrap my hand in gauze.
My most disturbing sewing related mishap (thus far) happened a couple of weeks ago at work. This is a fairly new job and I started at their busiest time of year. I was very overwhelmed and working a lot of hours. I came in one morning and had to sew a complicated hem on a rhinestone gown. The rhinestones were glued on and I couldn't remove them. I just had to do my best to work around them. My best sucked. I broke 3 needles in 5 minutes. I was muttering a whole lot of profanities as I changed the needle in my machine. I finally was able to sew the hem really slowly, feeling for stones along the way. I was just finishing the stitch with relief when I hit the last rhinestone with loud crack. The needle bent at a right angle and shot through my finger. It happened so quickly, I really didn't see it and I barely felt it. I remember cursing loudly, pulling the needle out of my finger and throwing it in the trash before running to the bathroom to wash my hands. It wouldn't stop bleeding and I was starting to feel a panic attack coming on. So I turned and ran out of the building. One of my coworkers came out to give me a band-aid and a piece of chocolate. When I started to calm down, I came back inside and sat at my machine, trying to psych myself up to continue working. There was another piece of chocolate waiting for me. My boss came in and told me to get some water and curl up on one of our couches on the sales floor until I felt ok. I thought that was really sweet of her to encourage me to stop working during our busiest time.....Especially after doing something so asinine. Although, it was decided that the first aid kit would be kept next to me from now on.
So there you have it. You may remember from previous entries that within the first couple months at the children's entertainment company I burned my hand really bad pulling a can of ravioli out of the microwave and had to wear clown pants while I washed my jeans. The first 10 minutes I was at the florist, I gashed my wrist with an industrial staple, which left a scar. Now, within the first few weeks at the dress shop, I have broken a machine needle off in my finger. Sometimes I think I could really benefit from having someone follow me around to keep me safe from myself. I'd say I could just try harder to pay more attention to my surroundings, but I'm nearly 30 years old. If I haven't become more concerned with my own safety yet, I probably never will.