Hi,
many thanks for responding :)
I was wrong about the needle breaking - this is the problem:
When you thread it up and then pull the needle down to pick up the bobbin thread, the thread circles around the bobbin, but does not pick up the bobbin thread.
it happened when a piece of cloth got caught and started to go into the mechanism. My wife tried to ease it out gently, but as she tried to get the cloth out something inside went 'bang' (not the needle). We wonder if perhaps it was a spring or something but hesitated to take it apart in case it was electrical.
does that sound as if it makes any sense?
Leigh
November 2009