A lot depends on what style of decorative stitches you're looking for. Most older cam machines only have the ability to make decorative stitches that are just satin stitch variations, no forward/backward movement stitches(stretch stitch capability). Japanese machines had this ability long before Singers. My Brother Pacesetters(1956&57) have many built in stitches that Singer machines didn't have even with cams until the late 1960s. Also be aware that there are a lot of Japanese machines of this era that are left needle machines, that is, straight stitch is done with the needle in left position, not center position. Many, many machines have the ability to sew what you are wanting to do, I imagine you'll get more replies from people telling you what their favorite machine is. my favorites are Brother machines from the 1950s and 60s.
Cari