I'm an actor in a Renaissance Festival. I design and make garb for the shows and for my own use when I go to other festivals. I've made garb from the 14th century through to the 17th century. I'm also a costume designer for a production company.
I have a very old Brother with 2 stitches (straight and zig-zag). About 3 yrs ago I went to a flea market and a lady had a Singer for $20. She warned me it didn't work. I bought it, had it repaired for $100, now I have a $300.00 machine for $120.00. Its got about 50 stitches. I also just inherited a Singer cabinet machine from my aunt. Its the Centenial model. I just got my first serger. I haven't tried it yet...but my next project is sitting on my cutting table and I'm going to use the serger even if I don't need to!