My mother-inlaw rarely sewed, but once when she finished she put the leg of the stool on the foot pedal. It wasn't enough to get the machine running, but enough to move the pedal down. It sat for who knows how long that way, and the pedal got very hot and burned the rug. Somehow it must have gotten moved some how. Some months later when she went to sew again, she discovered the burnt rug. They were so lucky they didn't lose their home or lives.