get a "decent" sewing machine - right now my Singer 237 is one of my prferred machines for piecing. it is from the early 1960s and these are the features it has:
straight stitch
zigzag stitch
forward and back
three needle positions
one can drop the feed dogs on*some* of them
currently available from $25 to $125 on the second hand market.
a sewing machine that "acts up" is very frustrating.