Remember it's only a belt-driven machine, so not quite as strong penetrating the fabrics as a gear driven motor. It's probably only happy doing your piecing, and not your thicker work.
The best penetrators would be any machine with an internal (often called "potted") motor. They have no belt and are completely gear driven. Very strong. I have a couple I could recommend: The Singer 301, 401, 500, and the Juki TL2010Q. You can hem jeans on these.