Well, on my Brother it means: (1) I can sew from my recliner when my back is giving me trouble (2) I don't have to chase the foot pedal (3) You can set speed which is good for beginners that haven't learned to control it with foot pedal. (4) One more thing I don't have to keep up with when going to sew alongs. (5) When I got used to using start/stop button I never wanted to go back to foot pedal

Well, the good news is that Elna's are now made by Janome, so much will be the same feeling as your machine. And within a short time she will adjust to just using the foot pedal, such a lovely gesture from her Dad.

The only advantage for me for being able to sew w/out foot pedal is that I could set the speed to super slow, and then my young grandchildren could sew simple straight seams. Learning to press the pedal was a bit of a surprise for them if they got it going to fast, then they would get nervous and would loose interest. Eventually (around 9 or 10 maybe) I think they can get the concept of the pedal/speed combo. I have them practice w/out a needle to get the feel of it....fabric will still feed and they can get the simulation of sewing and controlling the speed and the fabric.

I had never thought of that but what a great idea!

This Elna has a speed control, so a person could still set it to only sew at low speeds.

I have tried sewing with the start/stop button instead of the foot pedal, and I found it really stressful. How do you maintain control of the fabric at the end of a seam, while looking up to find the stop button? How do you adjust or realign your fabric as you sew? How do you remove pins? I slow down or stop during these things, so that my seam stays accurate. I find that if I'm not watching the fabric feed, I get wobbles.

I found that I used mostly my left hand to guide fabric anyway and got to where I could reach up and press the start/stop button without even looking. There is an old saying "necessity is the mother of invention" and I guess that applies to learning to sew with start/stop button when the only other option is to not sew at all.

well for me... I can't drive 55 ... ha ha ha

I love having the speed control consistent. When I FMQ I really like it because then I know the speed is staying the same I just have to manage my hands

I was worried about sewing with the start stop button and losing control.. but I am used to it now. I don't know if I could go back to the foot pedal :)

LOL I can't drive 55 without cruise control either. And, I do have a hard time switching from start/stop button and foot control. I much prefer start/stop button.

Meyert, I am not exactly sure why your niece wants to avoid using the foot pedal but I am poking in anyway. Please forgive me if I intrude.

I have a suggestion. It will take fiddling and creativity but short of a simpler answer it does work.

My grandmother's Singer Slant-O-Matic 403 Special has a foot pedal that will also function as a knee pedal. The machine came to me in a cabinet with a harness sort of arrangement that was attached to the cabinet a d holdsthe pedal at comfortable knee height.

I liked the knee pedal in the sewing machines at school and I really do use the 'knee' pedal one on grandmother's 403.

I love using a knee lever but I'm not sure it would be a good fit for a child. They would have to sit too far to the right to operate it.

Cari