A poster on the Creative Machine mailing list said that it's very
important to her that her machine do a good keyhole buttonhole, which
reminds me that I should have mentioned stitch variety.

Decide which stitches are vital and which are useful, and don't be
snowed by advertisements touting vast numbers of stitches. Which
stitches matters; total number doesn't. (Unless the total is smaller
than your list of must-haves.)

I do most of my work on an old straight-stitch treadle machine I
ransomed about ten years after I bought my electric machine, but when
I carry a job into the room where the zig-zag machine is, I'm very
glad that I've got it. I've forgotten how to make the Necchi do other
stitches, but the book and stitch chart are very clear; it wouldn't
take long to look up a fancy stitch if I wanted one.

Some folks are hipped on having a blind-hemming stitch, which sews a
few stitches straight, then makes one zig to the left to catch the
fold of the fabric. When I don't care enough to sew a hem by hand, I
top-stitch it. It's easier and more secure than the blind stitch, and
looks just as good. I might use my blind-hem stitch to make a shell
hem some day. (For that, you adjust the zig to fall off the fabric
entirely, which pulls the edge into a series of scallops.)

There are times when I wish that I had a three-step zig-zag: the
machine makes three straight stitches angling to the left, then three
angling to the right. The Necchi would do it if I put in the right
cams, but as far as I know, they stopped making new cams for this
machine before the three-step was invented.

If you have access to alt.sewing, it would probably be best to
continue this discussion there. (On the other hand, there isn't much
traffic on this channel, and this sub-thread is easy to skip.) (And
saying "what do you want in your new machine?" might stir up more
information than you wanted.)

--
Joy Beeson
joy beeson at comcast dot net
http://roughsewing.home.comcast.net/
The above message is a Usenet post.
I don't recall having given anyone permission to use it on a Web site.