Tartan

You are more likely to find a good secondhand machine in your price range.

Rose Marie

I bought a light weight Brother for $80. Its a great little machine for the price. Got it on Amazon.

liont

Kenmore-Janome has pretty good workhorse for around that price or slightly higher. If you don't mind refurbished, you can get it lower. Try places like overstock.com and search for refurbished.
I have a refurbished Janome (same as a Kenmore at Sears). Feed dog drops, can do simple FMQ, but throat is small.
Can't have it all

bearisgray

I am so glad you said "inexpensive machine" instead of "cheap machine"

twilight

I like my little Brother I bought at Walmart 2 years ago. Be 3 this winter. I too have 2 other machines too heavy to take to class. The Brother I have has several extra stitches and the feed dogs drop down. If this is any help. I use it at home too when I want to get out of my room and be with the family after supper to watch tv.

irishrose

I have heard good things about the Brother Hello Kitty machine and with its aqua color, it's as cute as can be. A vintage Singer 15 is not light enough for your needs. A Hello Kitty as an only machine - no, but as a travel machine - maybe. I do wish it came in a straight stitch only machine. I have trouble with fabric going down in the wider hole on a zigzag machine. Have to love leaders and enders when sewing on one. It's $100 several places online.

totosmom

Hi Seazteddy. If I were you, I'd be looking on Craigslist for a Singer 301, one that is, what?, cosmetically challenged but in working condition. It's lightweight (about 16 pounds), comes with a handle, and sews a wonderful stitch. The feed dogs also drop for FMQ. As long as it still has the bobbin case, it might be the bargain you are looking for. It's easy to maintain yourself, but I always like to have them checked out by a professional before I use them. They also come up on shopgoodwill.com.

Whichever way you go, good luck!

TerryQuilter

I never drop the feed dogs on my Janome 6600--just set the stitch length at 0. That works really well, have had no problems. It's what Leah Day does, she never drops her feed dogs.

liont

Oh my! I never knew we could do that!
I immediately ran to my machine, change to a FMQ foot and tried. It really works! The stitches look better with feed dog up than down. Thanks, I learnt something great today

Dolphyngyrl

look on overstock.com I got my brother for 109 but test it out immediately because they are refurbishedand my first one didn't work, my second one I have had for 6 years with no problems. It can't weigh more than 12 lbs