Saturday, July 28, 2018

The Case of the Flyaway Straight Pin

Alternate title:  How I Spent My Friday Morning

In the process of trying on my newly sewn pants with its generic trial waistband, I went into the closet to get the portable full-length mirror.  Something grabbed the waistband on the way out.  It was the groove/hole for the latch on the doorframe.  Oh, no, I thought, and checked the pants and nope, no hole and no pulled threads nor snags.  Whew!  However....

....one of the straight pins holding the band on had gone AWOL.  I made a quick check of the area and no pin in sight.  I checked on hands and knees next, using my super light, running my hand through the carpet fibers---and still no pin.  Since it's a low pile it would  be easy to spot.

Then I spotted the white pin head about three feet away, but that's all it was---the pin was not attached!  I continued to check carpet in all areas I thought the pin could possibly go;  I checked my person;  I checked my newly sewn pants.  The pin was definitely hiding quite well from me.

By now I've checked the carpet  a few times.  I have four choices:
1) continue looking
2) try vacuuming and hopefully---and maybe falsely---expecting it to be picked up
3) execute the most trustworthy of operations to find a missing sharp object:  going barefoot
4) quit looking and hope for the best

I must continue to look for the pin as I don't want my hubby's foot to find it.  After all, it's not his fault---nor mine either---but I am responsible for the event which led up to this.

Once more I go over the carpet, expanding the area to be covered slightly.  Nope, no luck.  This was exasperating me.  Where else could the pin be?  Well, it could be anywhere.  I have the lower rod for my blouses so decided to check them.  I would grab 2 or 3, shake them, then check the carpet.  When I was almost half-way through....there it was!!  There was the pin, no longer AWOL.  Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you.



I picked up the pin and saw what had happened to it.  As seen in the photo one end of it had been bent into a 90 degree angle---a factory perfect right angle---which was quite impressive.

A lot of luck had been in play since the pin had given way and not done any damage to my yet unfinished pants.  I breathed a sigh of relief...well, more than one.

And that is how I spent Friday morning.

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