I learnt on a treadle Singer, when I was 20 I bought a Necchi, which I hated dearly , the thread would nestle every time you started a seam. My husband bought me a Pfaff which I used to raise my family. One night my daughter used it to make a fur animal, she broke it so good that I bought the newest model of Pfaff at the time, the 1415. I know that some machine can perform more but I still hold to it dearly.