I tried free motion on the 319, too and was not impressed but that doesn't mean you won't have success. Looking back, I used the raised throat plate that was made for darning and it didn't leave me enough room for my fingers. I have a 306 I'm tempted to try it and see how it does with just a darning foot and no plate - just dropping the feed dogs or setting the stitch length at 0. I really like the 306 machines I have. I just wish they would hand crank.