this has been very interesting. I always had Kenmore until I could afford my Berninas. I gave my kenmore to my daughter in Australia. It is a work horse. It basically does forward, backwards, zigzag and a few fancy stitches. Who could ask for more????? When I go to visit I am going to get it out, dust it off.....check how it works...get it serviced and teach my 7 year old granddaughter how to use it. Yeah I know the plugs don't work in Australia but we have a converter for that. LOL.