Wednesday 25 February 2015

Ghost in the machine

Let me tell you a story involving a lightbulb and an overlocker. No, please stay! It gets a bit more interesting than that, I promise! A little while ago, the bulb on my overlocker stopped working and needed replacing. Being the dynamic go-getter that I am, it only took me nine months to get round to ordering a new one and bracing myself to change it (I'm not practically minded). To get into the lightbulb area I had to remove a section of overlocker, which meant a trip to the kitchen to find a different screwdriver. It also meant removing the thread cones, so it was all a bit of a rigmarole. Imagine my surprise when I finally got the cover off to discover there was no lightbulb in there after all. Hmm, 'where was it?' I wondered. At that moment, just like in a ghost story, a used lightbulb rolled across my sewing desk and came to a stop by my hand. I kid you not. Where the hell had that come from??!! The logical explanation was that Jon had removed it whilst waiting for me to order a new one, so I tackled him about it as soon as he got in that night. Nope, he hadn't touched it. In fact he wouldn't DARE take apart my overlocker without my permission. I believed him.

The culprit….
So how had the lightbulb removed itself from the overlocker??? I have absolutely no recollection of doing it. Surely I'd remember hunting down a special screwdriver, removing cones etc? Plus there was a thick layer of undisturbed dust on the back section which my slatternly housekeeping skills hadn't touched for years. There can only be two explanations. Either I'm totally, utterly losing my marbles (highly likely) or….. I have a sewing ghost!!!  I really hope it's the latter, and if it is a ghost, then it's a helpful one. I could leave out bits of unstitched pattern pieces for it to sew overnight, just like in the Elves and the Shoemaker. Better still, I could leave out hooks and eyes for it to sew on!  Sadly I think it's probably me getting old and having a complete memory lapse.

Has this kind of thing ever happened to you? Or is it just me going bonkers? If you did have a sewing ghost, what hideous tasks would you leave out for it to sew?!  Have a good day! x


40 comments:

  1. Hehehe! That is a great story!

    ReplyDelete
  2. love it! Maybe the SES unwound itself somehow and completely fell out when you removed the cover?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There's a tiny possibility, but the lightbulb's quite near the top of the overlocker, surely I'd have heard it fall? Or maybe I'm going deaf too?! x

      Delete
  3. Maybe you're a sleep sewer! I've heard of sleep walking, sleep talking, even sleep eating. But maybe your inner conscious is more mechanically inclined than your waking self.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hahahaha! The thought of my inner conscious being in any way mechanically minded cracks me up! I bet there are sleep sewers though! x

      Delete
  4. I have a similar overlocker/lightbulb story. I got mine secondhand from my husband's grandmother and the bulb didn't work when I got it. I carried on regardless for a few months before it miraculously started working again. I've had no problems with the bulb since. Perhaps the sewing elves changed mine for me too ��

    ReplyDelete
  5. Well, if it is a sewing ghost I hope that it will do some of the tedious but essential jobs for you. I fear though that you are like the rest of us - do things and then forget! It happens to everyone in the end!! xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It happens to me all the time, but not usually on this scale! x

      Delete
  6. Jane, my machine and overlocker are on an old victorian washstand (actually I can't fit them both on there at the same time grr!) but my bulb rattles out with vibration over time because my table is a bit shaky. Sometimes I hear it fall out onto the wood and I screw it back in and other times is falls out into the creases of the fabric as the garment comes out the other side of the machine. Our whole house shakes as the bus mounts the pavement outside (not great for a house built in 1748) but the screws in our door handle fitting unscrew themselves slowly over time too (about two years) Do you think this could be your problem?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Much as I'd like the solution to be screws coming undone by themselves, I really don't think it is. Nothing in my house ever shakes and rattles I'm afraid, everything is as solid as a rock! I like the fact that the bus has to mount the pavement to get past your house though! x

      Delete
  7. I've totally had moments like that, I love it! Let's hope it's a sewing ghost. Can you get him or her to cut out pieces and do hemming and such for you?!! One can only hope! :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ah I hope it's a ghost too! I'll chuck in a few invisible side zips for it to work on! x

      Delete
  8. I once discovered a giant button posted into the workings of my old Singer. No ghost - just a curious 5 year old.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, we once discovered 54 (yes, 54!) CDs and DVDs posted between the floorboards in our front room. It wasn't a ghost that time either - it was our youngest! x

      Delete
  9. It's sissors and needles with me just when you need them.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I choose to believe in a helpful, mechanically-minded sewing ghost, most definitely! I've been hoping for one myself in fact, ever since the 1911 Census came out and I found that our house belonged to a tailor and his family. Maybe that explains why I've been increasingly drawn to tailoring (even if I still haven't finished my coat!). Rather than ghosting, he's possessing me with with his tailoring spirit!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ooh must look up who lived in my house in 1911, probably a lightbulb manufacturer! x

      Delete
  11. Not a sewing story but... the carefully fastened weights on my mother's tall clock fell to the bottom. Never did figure that out.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Spooooky! Maybe you removed it months ago when it blew and you forgot? Either that or it's the same ghost that always hides my seam rippers...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's a bit scarey to have absolutely no memory of it whatsoever though! I'm sticking with the ghost theory! x

      Delete
  13. Keep an eye out for a tiny note saying "No more twist".

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, oh, oh, oh, how did you know I'd get that reference?! Way before I ever became interested in sewing, that was my favourite Beatrix Potter book by a million miles. That waistcoat! All those tiny stitches! And that evil cat hiding the cherry twist! x

      Delete
  14. I had a very similar experience maybe 10 years ago, but not sewing related. One morning I was getting dressed for work and as I was putting on my shoes, a shoelace broke. I thought I had a spare in a dresser drawer in the living room so I rummaged through the drawer frantically but couldn't find any. I was incredibly frustrated and running late...I sat down on the couch to try to figure out what shoes I could wear or if I should change my outfit...I saw something out of the corner of my eye, I turned my head...and draped over the arm of the couch was the shoelace I needed!! It was so bizarre. I just didn't understand it. I even called a friend who had keys to my apartment to ask him if he had by any chance come in and placed a shoelace on my couch. Of course he didn't even understand what I was talking about. I still can't think of any explanation that is non-poltergeist related. Nothing like that has happened again. But I swear it happened even though it seems like a dream now! And I never seemed to be able to tell the story effectively. All my friends were supremely unimpressed. I suppose shoelaces are mundane objects, like lightbulbs, they didn't appreciate the drama. They said I must have put the shoelace there and forgotten it, but I just don't think so. In any case, I completely identify with your story!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I believe you Ann! And I totally identify with your shoelace story too! x

      Delete
  15. Now I love the idea of a sewing ghost or elf, getting my hand stitching done overnight, beautifully neat please, would be great (and a pleasant change from my own, far from neat), oh, and picking up every last small thread off the carpet would be nice too :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, and cleaning all the fluff out of my overlocker would be rather lovely too! x

      Delete
  16. Would your sewing ghost kindly speak to my oven ghost? The light has stopped working in there and I have no idea how to fix it.
    I would love the sewing ghost to finish ragging my quilt for me, such a labour intensive task.
    Hugs

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, where on earth do you find light bulbs in ovens??!! I'll have a word and get back to you! x

      Delete
  17. I've had many experiences like that :). Usually they are friendly and just want to let you know they are there.

    ReplyDelete
  18. So funny! Sadly, I have huge memory lapses all of the time these days, so I tend to lean in that direction. :)

    ReplyDelete
  19. I'd like my ghost to work out my trouser fitting issues. Or empty the kitty litter....

    ReplyDelete
  20. Not the light bulb but the screw keeping the light bulb in place came loose in my sewing machine. I blame the vibrations.

    ReplyDelete
  21. HAHAHAHAHA! This kind of thing happens to me all the time, but I'm very forgetful and so easily distracted that I just don't remember what I'm doing. I often set things down while I'm wandering around the house and forget all about them- my poor husband is always finding half-full glasses of water in odd places!

    ReplyDelete
  22. I seem to spend most of my time looking for things- particularly things that were in my hand two minutes before!
    The one that stays in my mind mostly though is when I was sitting in front of my machine sewing on mother of pearl buttons. I dropped one just in front of the machine table, no problem it was very small and light so couldn't have gone far, nothing there to hide it either - you'd think! I expected to bend down and just see it - half an hour later I was still doing a finger tip search!! Eventually I gave up and thought I'll worry about this tomorrow, next day went into the sewing room sat down and there it was right by my feet without even having to look for it. I put it down to the 'borrowers' who at least sometimes return what they don't use!

    ReplyDelete
  23. I would say that Past Jane did it, and Present Jane has forgotten - or else I am comparing you to my own level of forgetfulness, because I can definately see Past Me doing this! Present Me is constantly surprised at what Past Me has helpfully done: pattern alternations that I thought needed doing, fabric that I thought needed washing, matching thread and zips that I thought needed bought - Past Me has done them all!

    ReplyDelete
  24. Loved your sewing ghost post! LoL.... Hmmmm, always seems to be a wedding dress I'm working on that I get to "that point" where I'm going nuts!!!! Yep, I think I would leave out the dress when it needs to be hemmed! Ha.... that's about where I'm ready to pull out my hair cause I'm close to finish, but know that I've still got a lonnnnnng way to go! Have you seen some of the hems on those things!

    ReplyDelete

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...