Petey-I don't think the Serenade has the rising presser foot when you stop sewing. It does have a knee lift, so you can lift the presser foot and keep your hands on your sewing. I think the Babylock model which has the lifting presser foot is the Symphony, but that one is missing features the Serenade has (I forget for sure which, but I believe it doesn't have dual feed dogs, something I will not do without!). I don't think the Serenade can wind a bobbin through the needle, either. I see nothing in the operator manual about that, but I might try it. Hey--why not? It may just work. My Pfaff's can do that...The great features of this machine are:
dual feed dogs
thread cutter
needle threader
knee lift for presser foot
separate motor for bobbin winding, so you can wind a bobbin while sewing
low bobbin alert
needle down
start/stop button, so you can use the machine without a foot pedal if you want
sewing speed slide-button controller
auto-lock button (to lock stitches at each end of stitching, instead of backstitching)
vertical bobbin (for great stitches and easy access, even with fabric under the needle-- right at the machine's front)
It also comes with many feet, a huge plexiglass sewing platform, and a ton of decorative stitches and great features associated with those, which I'm really not into, so I haven't explored that stuff yet.