Help! Sewing machine novice - snapped five needles!

[Humphriescushion]

Been going great so far with my machine ( singer cheap model) thanks to youtube but today I have snapped five needles.

I am sewing elastic to two pieces of tulle ( v thin) and have done this with no problems often, however today the tip of the needle keep breaking.
So far i have: rethreaded bobbin and upper
Cleaned out the hook chase thing behind the bobbin case.
Checked tension
Tried on ordinarry thin cotton piece of material - this broke three needles
All to no avail.
I have snapped five needles no and have none left.
Any suggestions welcome but you may have have to explain terminolgy since I am very much a novice. Bit scared of machine now since the needle keep hitting me in the face!
,

[Marcipex]

Could you have had a dud pack of needles? As you've done all the obvious checks.

The only other thing I can think of is, to make sure you're putting the needles in the right way round. Can you see a flat side and a rounded side?

[Humphriescushion]

Thanks for reply Marcipex, I dont think it is a dud pack but possible and did not know about different sides for the needle so will check that, thanks.

[Marcipex]

Usually , in fact afaik always, the flat side of the needle goes to the back and the rounded side faces you, but you could google it for the actual machine you have.
Good luck.

[TheEmojiFormerlyKnownAsPrince]

Are you trying to force the sewing through faster than the machine can go?

I often find needles break when stitching elastic in, because I'm assuming you have to keep the elastic stretched to do it properly? This creates tension, and this tautness can cause the needle to break sometimes.

What about a ball point needle?

[Humphriescushion]

Marcipex, yes i checked the manual, so maybe I had put in the wrong way but dont think so ( well at least not all of them!).
Theemoi, I dont think so since this is the fourth skirt ive made this way with no problems. I will try a ball point needle though so thanks (i didnot even know such a thing existed!)

[FinallyHere]

I would check/reseat the bobbin case. Having it i. The wrong place is the thing that most often causes me to break needles. Hope you find what the trouble is.

[Marcipex]

Any luck?

[ThanksForAllTheFish]

I have a seperate metal bottom bobbin case I use for really thick fabrics. I've adjusted the tension on it and it stops broken needles and snapped thread (I've put a little blob of nail varnish on it so I can tell the difference between the normal one and the adjusted one). My machine is a side loader though so that might make the difference as I believe top loaders don't have the same set up.

It might also be your thread. I got a batch of crap thread once (by batch I mean an entire case of threads in every colour - I think it was from lidl) and I had a huge amount of problems. Threads tangling and knotting in the bottom causing the machine to jam. Needles snapping etc. The problems all disappeared when I bought new thread so it's something else to consider.

[lifeistooshort]

Check the needle position and that you are using the correct foot for the stick you are using. I broke several of mine when I didn't realize I had changed the stitch but not the foot. Hope this helps

[incywincybitofa]

Has someone accidentally moved your tension dial?