Jennifer23

I absolutely love my Featherweight. However, they are 60-100 year old machines, so when you buy one it's not guaranteed to run like new. It also requires regular oiling and maintenance, more than modern machines.

If you want a couple modern conveniences, consider the Janome 3160. It's not much heavier than the Jem, but has a larger throat, needle threader, thread cutter, needle up/down, and a couple other features. It also has a nice quiet motor. I'm also a fan of the Pfaff Passport, which includes IDT.

​​​​​​I recommend you try before you buy - you might discover that there are features you want, or things that bother you in a machine regardless of other people's recommendations.

Railroadersbrat

I am going to go out on a limb here and ask if you've ever considered using a mini-machine.

I have one, it's a Uten uea001 and while it looks like a machine that you would give to your pre-teen, I can assure you, this little girl is an absolute workhorse. I bought her off of Amazon after my big girl (Dressmaker ss2402) went down on me and I needed something fast because I was working on a nine-patch quilt for my fiancé and I - it was coming up on fall and all of our comforters were so thread bare that one of them exploded in the washing machine.

She sews straight as an arrow and has a few other stitches, too and she's lightweight - like, I'm almost positive she weighs less than a full gallon of milk, she's that lightweight. On top of that, I'm able to carry her around using just my pinky finger and I have severe carpal tunnel syndrome, with tendon lock and arthritis. I was extremely surprised at how light she is, but she was able to handle a queen-sized nine patch quilt top without breaking a sweat.

My machine is no longer available on Amazon, but there are a lot of other mini-machines available (mine was originally listed at $160, but I was able to pick her up for $45) and the prices are pretty reasonable, even though there still seems to be a little bit of price gouging going on with the pandemic. If you're only going to use the new machine for straight stitching and taking her out and about, maybe consider going the mini-machine route? Whenever I'm able to travel back to Kansas City to visit with my family, my little girl is going with me, without a doubt.

canmitch1971

I have a Janome Gem Platinum.that I love.

cashs_mom

Whatever machine you decide on, I would not leave it in the trunk of my car. The jarring and bouncing isn't going to be good for it. If it's a smaller machine, you can easily take it in and out of the house.

lynnie

I have a 99k that i leave at my friends house for sewing. before that. i had a plastic thing from Walmart. did straight and zig zag. it did what i needed and it was light. for travel, get something not to expensive. will someone try to steal it out of your car/trunk. and what abut temperature extremes.

quiltingcandy

I have 2 travel machines. One is a Featherweight, the other is a little Europro that I got from HSN many years ago. It was a whole $100.00. The FW is straight stitch only, so if I know I will need the zig zag I take the Eurpro. Living in So. Cal the car can get extremely warm so I never leave any of my machines in the car. It just wouldn't be good for any of it. But as Lynnie said if someone does steal the machine from your car, you don't want it to be too expensive to replace. I do keep them in a case that rolls so they are easier to transport to and from the car.

loisf

Another vote for the Janome Jem Platinum. Great little machine and very light.

Fabric Galore

I have a Singer 301 and it is my go-to machine for piecing. It only does straight stitches but it doesn't chew up the fabric at the beginning of a stitch line so I save time by not having to use a leader like I do on my larger machines. I can easily service the 301 and parts are still available for it online.

Dolphyngyrl

I have been using my brother sq9050 from walmart for 9 years now. I probably sew on it more than my dreamweaver. It has done dresses bags, quilts, been an absolute workhorse.

tropit

I love the FW. It's so cute! But, I do find it a bit unstable on the table while I'm sewing. It's just a little too lightweight for me, especially when trying to manage a large quilt. The FWs are also expensive, due to their popularity. For something with a little more heft, you might look at a 301 Singer, which is a full sized machine, but fairly light and portable. There's also another, older Singer that I have, which is my favorite. It's just a touch bigger than the featherweight, just comes only in black and is very portable. I'm sorry, I can't remember the model number. It's still dark here. When it gets light out, I'll pull it out, take a look and post here. Perhaps another vintage sewing machine enthusiast can fill in.