I do not know about the singer machine but I hear you. My mother ship, a janome 6500, is in the shop. Fortunately I have many vintage options for piecing. One of my favorites is the singer 301 vintage machine. It is just a straight stitch. Hope you can find a good solution soon. You think it might be worth it to have your vintage machine looked at? It might be cheaper then buying a new machine. If you know some one who is handy they might be able to do it. DH does all the vintage mechanical machines himself.