miriam

Vintage Singer 99. or a 404 are very simple and only do straight stitches. They are all metal and won't fall apart on the first project. They are very easy to maintain and parts are still available. Each use common easy to find needles and bobbins. The 99 is small but not as small as a Featherweight and usually much less expensive. The Singer 404 is usually fairly inexpensive and it is light weight but harder to find. They were used in schools when people actually learned how to sew. Those are two of my choices for learning and my DGKs love them. If they hate sewing the machines hold value pretty well unless you over pay.