Moths in the Sewing Room…Part II

Posted on August 4, 2014 by Beth Markel

So while the dreaded, hateful pantry moths seem to have succumbed to my diligent cleaning & fabric-freezing spree, my horror increased ten-fold this week when I went into my sewing room and this tiny, flying menace twittered about my head. I can just barely, coherently, put into words my shock and dismay!

I stood between my sewing room and the house utility room (read furnace, work-bench, water-softener – clean but rarely used) which houses 2 shelving units full of clear, plastic containers with everything from ink & stamps, to ribbon, embroidery floss, batting, wrapping paper, etc. A couple of weeks ago, I opened a bag of batting, cut off a small piece, and then just clipped it closed with a clothes pin. This is bamboo batting and I’ve used it numerous times as I really love how I can sew along, and my needle goes through numerous layers like a hot knife through butter.

After the screaming subsided, and standing quite still, probably from shock, I watched, fluttering about in a happy and devilish manner, a couple of very light moths. At least I think they are in the moth family. These were teeny, not longer than my pinky finger nail, and I clapped my hands together, ending their mocking frivolity. They were easily turned to “dust” in my hands, but now, of course…WHERE DID THEY COME FROM!?

While the cleaning, laundering and freezing of fabric, vinegar in the pantry, etc. took place, it absolutely never occurred to me to check my batting for moths. Literally, it never dawned on me that more than one kind of moth would have the nerve to cross our threshold.

So you’ve probably put 2 + 2 together a lot faster than I did, and yes, these teeny, tiny moths were in the bamboo batting. When I unfolded the batting, a half dozen of the little menaces took flight. Could. Not. Believe. My. Eyes.

Rapidly bundling the wad of batting into a clean trash bag, I then put the whole thing in my recently vacated freezer space…where I’ll keep it for a month and then decide what to do. It’s been a couple of days now, and I took a quick photo of what I think are moths, but here’s what they actually look like.