How many do you have...
...and how many do you use?
I always tell The Husband "need's got nothing to do with it!" when I bring home another machine, but I was eying a Necchi 534FB in the thrift shop today and got to wondering.
I have: A Pfaff 130, (my main machine); a Singer 319 (fun to play with); a Nelco from the 60's (I keep for the free arm and blind stitch); and a black FW and a white FW (both go to class/sew-ins with me). These are the ones that get used regularly.
On the 'they're cool' side, I have a herd of friction drives: the crinkle Kenmore, the aluminum Kenmore, the Montgomery Wards and a nameless-but-likely National. These are more because they're cool than for use, but the Montgomery Wards makes beautiful buttonholes, so that's its job.
And then there are the treadles. My first was a New Willard, which is a Singer 27 clone, in a parlor cabinet. But I'm not fond of (or good with) using those long shuttles, so I bought a Singer 66 in a 7-drawer cabinet. It's pretty, but we just didn't click. So I took it out and put the Necchi BU Nova ThingOne found for me in the treadle, only I don't use it much. Nice machine, but I think it's me; I've come to the conclusion that I like electrified, not treadled. I'll get around to passing them on somebody else eventually.
Total Herd: 12
Used: 5
Oh, and I didn't get the Necchi. While I was waffling, a young Mennonite girl, maybe 12ish, snagged it. I heard her tell the cashier that the money came from selling her spring chicks, and that her mom told her if she'd buy her own machine, she could make all of her own clothes. I think it's going to a good home!