I was shocked to see how much I had spent on my first sewing machine. It was over $300 for a Singer touch n sew in the early to mid-70's. I was a student and didn't have extra money for much of anything. I needed to sew clothes for myself because I needed to add 2-4" to the length of pants, and 2" to the length of tops. Storebought clothes at that time frame were seriously too short.