Score!! Candace, good finds.

Good comparisons of the Singer machines, friends. I like to hear what other people think of them, to see if I am thinking along the same lines. What I like about the 319 is how you can just flip the lever, but also do the combination stitches in the manual with the cam/lever combinations. I think it is quite an advanced system for its age.

Also, I was going to try to leave a glowing feedback on how well Miriam packed and shipped the machine I bought from her, but my computer literacy, and finding the right button to push is not doing something right. The machine was double bubble-wrapped, and was double boxed, with packing materials well placed to keep everything in place, and she had double bubbled anything that would scratch anything else and put it in here. I think she should create a web page showing all her machines and prices, and actually make a proper business of it. Good job, Miriam!!

Melinda I agree with you about the flip of the lever on the 319 - ease of use, and it being an advanced technology for that time period!

I also think Miriam could make a business out of her machine addiction! She does a great job with shipping! My Pfaff 260 was packed so nicely it was hard to unpack! Love it! The problem is now I am going to really be picky about having something shipped - unless it comes from Miriam!

Nancy

You know Miriam, the SewMor I got on Saturday has a cabinet with a 'hole.' I will have to check into cutting a hole in the cabinet for the 319w, but I am so picky about the cabinets and machines that I probably will just leave it the way it is - for now!

I was just playing with the Sew Mor and realized it takes a long/high shank - not a slant - nor a low shank foot! Yet, it takes class 15 bobbins! Geeze, too bad all these people didn't make the machines take the same accessories! Now I will have to buy some high shank feet, as none of my other 50+ machines use that foot!

Nancy

just see if they can trade cabinets. See how you like it before you make a hole.

To me, the 319 is just as complicated as the 401. Levers to slide, keys to raise and lower, nobs to turn, and there's no instruction chart. At least with the 401 you pop open the trap door and there's a nice chart you can go by to set machine for what you want.

If you want simple, get a 338. Pop the cam in, and go. Only a couple levers to move just like an old straight stitch.

I'm a firm believer in the K.I.S.S. theory. The more simpler the better. That's why I'm still learning how to run that Alden of ours, whoever designed it never heard of the K.I.S.S. theory.

Joe

I seem to find the 401 series much more complicated than the 319. The 319 is much more intuitive, IMO. But, all these machines have their quirks. That's why we love them:>

I own numerous Singers that can make wonderful decorative stitches: 401, 328k, 224. The 328k and the 224 take the flat cams while the 401 doesn't. I find that using the flat cams is just so much easier to set up than dealing with the system of the 401. I also prefer machines that take standard needles, 15x1; so, the Singer 306 ad 319 are of no interests to me. Keeping it simple is my one big motto. My favorite decorative machine right now is the Singer 224 since it has the cams, uses standard needles, and is made to treadle.

The 224 sounds very interesting to me. I'll have to do some research on it. Did that model still have the steel gears? That is my one must be criteria. We have some machines with plastic gears and they sew well, but they have no real interest to me other than being a learning experience.

Joe

Joe, From what I see, it's all metal. It is not a gear driven machine. Here is a link to the Singer 226 video that someone made recently. She noticed my posting of my 224 and sent me the link to her video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5GsfYcYqxc
There is also a link to photos of her machine.

My machine came in treadle. Her model has a light and switch on side for pressure bar, while mine doesn't. I have the earlier model. Here are two photos of mine, 224.
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