Originally Posted by Dolphyngyrl
The cheap brothers do just nicely and last just fine, I hate that people bad mouth them on here. I have one from 93 that still runs, my MIL used it the other day to make an apron. My other one is 5 years old, never had any problems, I just bought another one. You are not going to be using it that often and it is great for class as well as a back up machine.
Me too. I have had Brothers that ran like a top. My machine now is a Brother QC1000 . I think it's a good machine for someone who wants a lot of bells and whistles without the machine costing a lot . Well yeah mine was 2 grand but compared to a Bernina. I couldn't have gotten one with half the stuff on it that mine has.
That being said I say find a way to set up your Kenmore especially if you are doing just straight stitch. Those older machines are real workhorses. Although if you have to set up and take down I totally understand the weight issue. I have a Household machine that I think weighs 40 lbs but it will sew everything short of a car bumper. :-)