My Singer has done it a few times. I've found threads or fuzz causing the pedal to stick each time. My Elna is designed differently so fuzz & thread can't get caught under it as easily.

I have a Pfaff and I have my foot upside down. I have better control this way and it doesn't get stuck under anything and continue sewing any more......

auto-pilot? ;)

I have only every owned Janome's and I have never had this problem, neither has my mum who also swears by them.
Im thinknig it may well be somehting stuck in your foot, or perhaps its 'sticking' bit like an accelorator in a car. Is it a metal foot or a plastic one?

I really wouldnt recommend gerrying your wires together, thats is asking for trouble! Fires, electocution, heat build up just to name a few things you are asking for if you did this. Very dangerous indeed.

I doubt all three (or more) of us have stuff stuck in our foot control. It's obviously a common problem. It's an intermittent problem that comes and goes in my case. You just never know when it will happen. The machine will sew out of control until you turn it off manually. It's actually kind of scary. It goes on its own at full speed! Not fun when you're trying to quilt something.

Years ago I had a Viking which I sold to a friend...well, she kept saying that the machine had a "ghost" and how did she get rid of it? (It would keep sewing after she lifted her foot). There was a short in the wiring in the foot pedal... :D

This happened to me with my Janome. I brought it into the shop to find out that the foot pedal has a spring in it that compresses when you press your foot down, and my spring had broken. They do not replace the spring...I had to buy a new pedal for about $65.

Same thing with the foot control on my Janome. Store said not to leave the foot control on the floor when not in use.....dampness.....huh? Am sure it is like you said, a spring has broken or slipped and I also had to buy a new pedal. Now this one has done it a couple of times....frustrating...esp since I like the machine so much....would think that they would come up with tougher pedal mechanisms.

I know this is serious and frustrating.
O.k. a little off que, Happened to me once w/a Singer and the problem cleared up as soon as I got my 4 yr old nephew, out from under the table. Worked wonders! :)

Wow! Thanks for letting those of us who are in the market for a new machine about this. It's a good question to ask when looking at machines.