Travelling machines

One of the topics that often will be discussed when quilters meet in classes, is how they transport their sewing machines. While some brands have their own cases, other brands don’t. My machines come with a hard cover/carrying case, but there are no brand travel cases available locally.

The first time I brought my machine to a class was back in 2003. I was travelling by boat and had to walk a short distance from the boat to the hotel. Sewing machines are quite heavy to carry when you are also lugging tons of fabric and sewing paraphernalia and necessary toiletries for an overnight stay, and the weather forecast said rain, wind and more rain. As you know, necessity is the mother, uncle and second cousin of invention, so I wrapped it up in a garbage bag to protect it from the rain, and strapped it, or rather bungee-corded it, to one of those wheely-things that we used back when laptops were heavy and required a separate attaché case.

It wasn’t a huge success. All the bumps along the quay brought my ingenious concoction off balance and it tilted. Over and over and over again.

The second time I brought my machine was a few years later when I was helping my mother sewing new curtains. As I would travel by plane and train, I brought the hard cover of the machine to a luggage store and asked for a carry-on suitcase in which it would fit. It worked perfectly, although took a while to get through security. It also gave me some extra room for fabric on the way home, it actually needed a little padding. Big bonus.

Then I thought a Tutto Machine on wheels case would be handy when bringing a machine to the monthly meetings in my friendly little guild. They have lots of different sized rooms and fold flat for easy storage. The orange case was sold out, but purple would do just fine, and the size was perfect for air travels.

I brought it home and forgot all about it until a couple of years later, when I got tired of carrying the machine back and forth. I have probably used it 20 times. Out in the car, into the meeting room, back into the car and home where it has been stored in the hall with the machine inside. It has been great indeed although the wheels are somewhat on the small side, but I have been very happy with it.

Last night, when I was bringing the case into the house, one of the wheels fell off as the frame was broken, 

and when I was putting it in my car this morning to bring it to the store, I realized that a couple of other things were broken right off as well. 

The rest of the case looks brand new though; the plastic is still on the handle.

I have never heard of such problems with these cases and neither had the very helpful shop owner, so there has to have been a defect in the material or it may have been damaged during transportation to the store. I am just happy that it didn’t happen on the road somewhere, leaving me wheel-less on an airport or train station, so while I am waiting for my case to be repaired or replaced, I’ll be carrying my machine to the guild meeting tomorrow.

Or maybe I should just bring a hand sewing project...