tessagin

I have t 401a in a desk cabinet and wouldn't give it up for nothing. Even DH said if we had to give one up it would be the 2662 not the 401. He repaired his denim jacket the day after I got it. It's a keeper. I use it for piecing and quilting.

Macybaby

To the OP - of course, you understand that this is not "Which one?" but "Which one first?" right? They seem to call to each other, and are happiest in groups.

Mrs. SewNSew

Three lovely choices! I have all three but use my 401 the most. That's only for the decorative stitches, I am a quilter and do my piecing on a 301. I would choose the 401 basically because they don't show up as often and when they do people ask a lot for them. It could depend on where you live but in this area I can find 15-91's easy peasy and pretty cheap generally. I've heard some people say 201's are rare in their local areas but I've found a few around here so it wouldn't be my first choice.

No matter what you decide you win. These are all wonderful machines.

lswan

Ask yourself what kind of sewing you will do.
If you are a quilter, the 15-91 or 201 do FMQ and piece great.
If you do garments or home dec projects or the like, the 401 has the stitches you need. What I don't like about the 401 is that the bobbin is horizontal and the needle plate rises to disengage the feet. Neither of those work for me in quilting. I do own one- I got it cheap at a garage sale and use it for zig zag or blind hem.

You cannot beat the straight stitch machine for perfect straight stitiching. I have a 201 and a 15-91. The 201 is an elegant machine, but I use the 15-91 for sewing bindings on as I sew the whole binding on by machine.

I have to say, my machine of choice for piecing and FMQ is the 301, which I love the best.

chris_quilts

My choice would be the 15-91. It may be a simple machine but so is the 201. However, I quilt and mend hubby's work jeans. The 15 will power through his jeans just awesomely and I can't beat it for piecing or quilting. Love it's straight stitch ~ so precise and fine.

I do agree with Iswan, post #14, about the 301. If I had the table or a cabinet for it, I'd use the 301 exclusively but not having either, I use my 15 the most.

Chris

zozee

So, have you made up your mind? I have the 15 91 but if I could get another machine FREE, I'd get the 401. It's more rare and I do like the styling a lot.

sewbeadit

Yep all of the above, let us know what you pick.

miriam

Like them all. I keep a 15-75 set up all the time for general sewing. It is easy to maintain compared to a 201. Both make nice stitches and both sew about anything. There IS something about a 201 - the ones I've had seem very well built and do an excellent job of sewing. They are harder to clean the bobbin area so if you produce a lot of lint you might think about a 15 for just straight stitch. The 401 is a good machine and hopefully the stitch selector is free and easy working. I don't do a lot of decorative stitches but I like my 403 since it is easy to maintain.
It really might boil down to what else you already have for decorative and what you plan to do with your machine.

quilterpurpledog

I have a 401A that I purchased new in 1959 and it came in a cherry wood desk console cabinet. It was my first purchase out of college and I still love it. All of the reasons for loving it are stated above. I do have Berninas and like them very much but I wouldn't part with my 401 as long as I have space for it.

OurWorkbench

I didn't used to like the look of the 401, but has grown on me as I now have two of them and a 503. That would be a really difficult choice.

I didn't care for the looks but when the opportunity to get them inexpensively - I went for it.

BOY - "AIN'T that the truth"

I thought the stitch selector was frozen on mine, but then I read the manual and figured out how it was supposed to work. (You pull one and push the other to turn - I have to look it up to remind myself.) It was a little stiff, but a little oil and moving knobs correctly helped that.

Such a hard decision. It really depends on what you want to sew with it. The 401 is a nice stitcher, I have done some mending and it did stitch nicely both zz & straight. John likes the 201-2 for looks, feel and quietness of it. It has a very good reputation.

Good luck on making the decision and be sure to let us know what you decide - and why

Janey - Neat people never make the exciting discoveries I do.