I always wear footware as my floor often has open safety pins scattered about. I make a lot of Linus quilts and I baste them with open saftety pins so that I remember to remove them. They often fall out and I use a neat magnet on a telescoping stick to pick them up off the floor. The open pins are also easier on my fingers than constantly opening and shutting them. My first sewing machine was in a cabinet with a knee control. My current machines are Berninas and have a knee bar that lifts the presser foot. I can barely sew without the knee lift. If I don't have the knee bar I am constantly banging my leg on the table leg. I currently have a mat on the floor under the table were I sew and another one under the machine. They are the thick padding you can put down under carpeting or flooring that will be laid on concrete. It keeps the foot pedal from walking and the machine from vibrating as I tend to "put the pedal to the metal" when sewing. I also keep an empty thread box on the floor to rest my none sewing foot on as a way to keep my legs balanced.