I would be really hesitant to buy one of these Instructional Sew & Serge machines. It sounds like the machines that fabric stores have a "school machine", usually a Singer, they are pieces of junk. Our group bought a Singer "school machine", it was only used maybe 3 times, before it fell apart. If you're on a budget, I would go to a dealer and see what they have in trade-ins that fits your budget. My opinion.