Sewing....halted!
 

Dang! My 22 year old Rowenta finally died. I ordered a replacement Rowenta so now I wait. Decided to machine embroider....misplaced the embroidery foot. Looked high and low...no success. No sewing for me! I did straighten out a messy sewing room catch all drawer but still. I only hope that a stupid little attic mouse did not run away with that plastic embroidery foot! Sigh.....poltergeist!

sandy

LOL!!! That's too funny!! I am not real good at putting things away where they belong. If I were, then I could find them later...sigh!!

I usually put the machine feet on top of my See & Sew light. Apparently not this time....the poltergeist will hopefully will return the missing foot. Sandy

want to talk poltergeist? I had a red knit afghan we used in the family room almost every day. All of a sudden it's gone. I've looked in every room and closet in the house. the only 2 people that live here are hubby and me, and he was on a business trip. I've been going nuts trying to find it.

I love the accessory box that came with my machine. Every foot has its own little fitted nest. it tickles me just to open it ;-)

:(.....and now you are wondering if it somehow got tossed in the trash when you cleaned up? It is going to drive you crazy until you find it.

Time to get a $20 replacement iron to tide you over. I did that, waiting to get my rowenta cord replaced, and found that for piecing, the light B&D is actually easier on the joints.

As for the plastic foot, it's probably hanging out with our missing Christmas tree skirt. :(

hugs,
Charlotte

NNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, not being able to sew? I'm so sorry for your loss! Look in the fridge for your missing part. That's where I inadvertently put my husband's Christmas present.

I know that feeling. Ask my husband how many paring knives I've gone through ;-)

Yep, that little plastic foot is easy to misplace. there's nothing magic about your embroidery foot except it's designed to minimize getting caught in long stitches. I've embroidered using one of my zigzag feet. You need to sit there & watch it so the foot (toes?) don't get caught in the jump stitches, but other than that, works fine until you locate your missing foot.

Get another one and it will magically reappear. Seems to happen to me.

It's there, you have layed something on top of it. Happens to me all the time. A scrap of fabric,or piece of paper is hiding it!!

The $9 steam iron at General Dollar works great for pressing seams. Walmart has the same iron for $6 but not in stock all the time. I use these irons for doing fusible or glue work.

Did it fall behind the sofa/chair that you normally use it? I'll fold up the afghans and lay them over the top edge of the back and sometimes they'll slide off behind the sofa. Just a thought.

Have you checked the washer and dryer? The car? I can empathize.

Since I got another machine, I wanted to make sure I kept the feet separated. I have a square magnetic bowl you can get at any sewing store. It fits in the tray that came with my 401. For my newer Singer I found a long narrow (3 1/2") magnet that fits just right into the accessory tray. It's very thin. Anything small and metal goes into a magnetic bowl (from Harbor Freight). I have a lot of magnets around but at least they're not going to shift or get carried off by little critters who like to loot.

Here is a limerick I learned: Tony, Tony look around. Something is lost and can't be found. Say this over and over and over. It'll turn up.

Same here. I do have a place for MOST everything, but instead of putting things back where they belong, I drop them into various baskets I keep on the sewing table and on the nearby machine. So when I "lose" something, these baskets are the first places I look.

All great suggestions and thanks for sharing in my tragedy! LOL! Amazon emailed that my new Rowenta shipped already. I also thought of picking up a pre-owned iron at one of the many resale shops we have. I am sure the new iron will arrive before I get the chance to shop. Oh well, a break is not a bad thing I guess. Glad to be in such good company on the misplaced items. Losing The afghan was really weird.... Crazy world!

sandy

GREAT IDEA!!
Sandy

I say a prayer to St. Anthony when I lose an item. I find the item or will find out what happen to it.

I have lost small tools, sissors etc over the years as I sew but now I have found the cure....I made a little duffle , pattern from Connecting threads,and keep it right by my machine with all of my small tools. As I use them they go back into the duffle. No more hunting under fabric, on the floor, in the trash etc and when I go to quilt meetings or classes all of my tools are ready to go. It saves so much frustration. Good luck finding your foot and I agree, a cheap little iron works for me after my Rowenta died.

Same thing happened to my creative grid 2 1/2 x 6 1/2 ruler (love that thing). I searched and searched for a month, finally resorted to cleaning and reorganizing the bloody room -- still no ruler. A couple of weeks later, I got up early and went into my sewing room to put something away. You guessed it, there is my ruler laying in the middle of the floor. I had just been in there the previous night -- no ruler.

Similar story. To clean my machine I took the bobbin race out of my janome. That involves a few screws and pieces. I put everything in a SAFE PLACE. But when I had put it all back together I couldn't find the bobbin compartment cover, I looked high and low. Couldn't really sew without it. So I trekked my way to the repair store. They tried not to laugh but they didn't have one in stock. But they found one on a used model and sold it to me for $10. Ouch.
About a month later I went into the parts box for a new needle and there it was. Why that part went into the box and nothing else. I will never know.
MaryKatherine

I have a "helper" with me in my sewing room, my cat. He thinks he's helping my organization by knocking small items on the floor. He likes to see them fall. So, I try to keep a box, or a drawer for those feet.

My husband bid on something else at an auction, and an iron was included. Works like a charm. I had bought another iron myself at a consignment/resale shop for $3. Best investment I made. B&D, both irons and the same model. Couple of auctions later and my DH came home with 2 more. Now my quilting DD has a back up iron. Worth looking in a resale shop.

You will find it when you least expect...Always happens that way...

Could it have slipped behind and down under the couch?
Could it have slipped down under the cushions and then back up under the back of the sofa?
Could a burglar have come in (it takes seconds) grabbed it and put some small 'sellable items' in it to carry out in a hurry?
Check in the car/trunk? did you stuff a pillow cover over it? did a grandchild/niece-nephew/neighbor 'borrow' it?

I love a good mystery, so forgive me.

Good luck. I hope you do find it safe and sound.

I used to think that people who had those expensive irons were nuts. I mean its an iron. 6$ or 60$ they do the same thing, right? My sister bought a Rowenta a few weeks ago. I tried it, and will be getting mine this weekend. lol. I get it now. Can't explain it, but I get it. I will be keeping my walmart iron for fusibles and stuff like that, but I WANT the Rowenta for everything else. I may actually enjoy ironing my clothes now.

check under the couch cushions for the blanket. I once lost a comforter for over a month, until i finally changed the sheets on the waterbed. The bed ate it.

I LOVE my Rowenta steam generator! I'm on the second one in 14 years. First one the problem was with the on/off switch. My new one doesn't have an on/off switch - you just plug it in.

I chalk it up to sewing room gremlins that move things when you aren't looking.

If you have your machine in a recessed table and there is even the smallest space anywhere, usually on the right side, sometimes small parts fall in there and hide. It happens to me rather often. Sometimes items are completely hidden under the edge of the machine, which has little feet that allow a bit of clearance under it. You'd think things would fall straight down, but no, they have more fun playing hide and seek. Another thing that can happen if there are metal parts on the foot is that the magnetic pin cushion can grab it and it can hide there among its pin friends. Another thing to try is to go into the room at night and scan the area with a flashlight. Sometimes things that are hard to see in normal light will reflect and show up that way. Good luck finding the missing foot.

Has anyone looked in the freezer?? lol

Oh gosh.. sounds familiar... Things just up and walk away right when ya need them... Hoping you find your things, and not between the walls.. I recall watching a animated movie 'the Borrowers', Sometimes i wonder if there's truth in that movie.. lol..

I'll check my sewing machine feet - maybe it came for a visit.

I moved last summer and still am not completely settled yet. So, In November I wanted to embroider a label for the baby quilt I made for my nieces baby (waited until after baby was born so I could put the name and birthdate on it). Do you think I could find the dongle for my embroidery software? No dongle - no embroider (I have a Bernina 440 and have to be hooked to my laptop). Got so desperate I bought another (used) copy of the software to get it done. Finally two weeks ago I decided I was going to find it so I could sell the extra copy. I was sure I had put it in either the tub with the software CD and manual or the bag with my laptop, but no ... found it in the rolling bag I moved my machine in. I was sure I had already looked there. Oh, well it's found, the copy I kept was one version higher, and the other copy sold. Things turn up eventually. Keep looking in all the odd places.

Those gremlins have been in my house too -- I'm looking for a USB stick. It is probably right in front of my nose but I can't see it!

I know what happen to your missing embroidery foot. It ran off with my socks that keep disappearing each time I do my laundry.....

I lost my keys about 4 months ago and still haven't found them!! Had to have a new set made. My truck key alone was over 50.00. So, if you have a poltergeist, I must have one too. Glad he doesn't like sewing. Hope you find your parts and get your machine home fast.

In our house we believe there is a black hole that eats all sorts of things that you just know you put up "there" so you could find it again. Never works. And these things are sometimes important to locate Oh well

Great responses eveyone! I will continue the search this weekend. All great tips!

I once "hid" a birthstone ring....never have found it and I looked high and low when packing for a move. Sigh.
i still wonder what I did with that ring!

sandy