i am teaching the little neighbor girl to sew ,,,,,was at a yard sale for $10. i got her a brother like the walmart ones ....light weight enough and she leaned how to thread it in about 10 minutes ....she loves it

This is a great thread. I picked up a Singer 99 for my daughters. Hope they will like it!
My mom gave me a toy machine to learn on and it was total garbage. That stifled the learning process.. I ended up buying myself a used Kenmore with cams cause I was interested in the decorative stitches. Even at 16 that machine was too complicated for me (no one in my family sewed to teach me or help me troubleshoot). I sewed quite a few things on a Singer 66 treadle and I loved it. Very straightforward.

I am SO grateful to all of you for your great advice! I have been glued to Craigslist looking for one of the 3/4 Kenmores with the rose case, but haven't found one. I might bid on the one on ShopGoodwill, but the only time I bought a machine from them, it arrived in pieces because they shipped it in the case. Also haven't found a 301, 401, 403, etc.
What I did find, which was initially very exciting, is a Kenmore 158.17741. It has all the accessories, manual, is relatively light, looked perfect, etc. My granddaughter was visiting and was so excited about the different stitches. I oiled everyplace it showed in the manual and it seemed to run great. THEN, we tried to reverse it and first it wouldn't reverse and then it would ONLY sew in reverse. I opened the top again and played with different parts and everything seemed to move freely when I moved it by hand. I think I'll start another thread with all the details. I doubt that I can fix it in time for her birthday unless the fix is simpler than I think.
So, the current plan is that I'm cleaning up a Kenmore 158.13033 that I had gotten a few months ago. It had Sharpie marker all over it, which I've mostly gotten off, although not completely. (Any suggestions for Sharpie removal?) It works great, but it's much heavier and doesn't take cams or have any extras. Meanwhile, if something spectacular shows up on Craigslist between now and Monday, plans could change! And I have five younger granddaughters, so I'm going to keep my eyes open for those rose cased Kenmores.
Thanks again for all your help!

My vote was for giving her the Kenmore you have. They are easy to use and hard to break! I have a 158. (Not sure the other numbers) that's going strong from the '90's.

My guess is your DGD would love some new fabric and a trip to the store with her grandma to pick it out. As for Sharpie removal, try nail polish remover. Or put a cute sticker over the spot if possible.

".......THEN, we tried to reverse it and first it wouldn't reverse and then it would ONLY sew in reverse. I opened the top again and played with different parts and everything seemed to move freely when I moved it by hand. I think I'll start another thread with all the details. I doubt that I can fix it in time for her birthday unless the fix is simpler than I think.
........."


I kind of think it's a thing with Kenmores that have stretch stitches. The one or two I've played with seem very fussy about stitch length and other settings. I've had them sew only in reverse too. I have one here that has a funny little stretch lever on the back of it I need to play with more. I'm pretty sure it's user error on my part but I was having trouble with it too the last time I looked at it.
Rodney

I think I saw 2 of the 3/4 kenmores on shopgoodwill

one says Kenmore 1030 and the other is farther down or on next page and says sears Kenmore sewing machine + accessories

Thanks! I put in a bid. I don't really know what these go for in general. I saw one on Craigslist last year, but I don't remember the price and haven't seen one since.

What she said! I had a 1040 that I sold to my former boss for her 11 year old daughter who was in 4H sewing She (and Mom) love it and use it regularly.

My own first machine was a full-sized Kenmore of the same timeframe. Still have it and it's still going strong. Those guys are bulletproof. Easy to find low shank attachments, easy to use and maintain.

A couple of things...
1) I have a Kenmore 17741 and love, love, love it! It sounds so quiet and it'll sew through anything. My only gripe is that for some reason it now needs some help getting started (with the hand wheel) but it's not that big a deal.
2) I'm a teacher, and when kids write on the white board with Sharpie, we write over the marks with a dry-erase marker and then erase. That seems to remove it. Maybe that'll work for you.
3) I bought a sewing machine on the online Goodwill site, from the Goodwill in Hillsboro, OR. They packaged it really, really well. If you see a machine from there, give it a try! I also bought a Featherweight from the one in Ontario, CA, and I seem to think it was packaged pretty well, too. It didn't have a case, though.
Good luck!
Ila