check out the Janome Gem

I purchase a Brother LS-2125 on sale at Walmart for 69.00 a few years ago and it has paid for itself many times over already. I'm not into making clothes with it as I find buying ready to wear cheaper than making them myself, though I have used it to hem pants and other clothing for my very petite mother. You will probably find this to be the case too. But as far as making housewares (curtains, tablecloths,placemats, bed ruffles, etc.) I've saved a fortune. The machine is wonderful. I've never sewed in my life and within an hour of taking it out of the box I had learned everything in the manual. I recently purchase a lot of different presser feet for this model as I now find that I've become proficient enough to attempt using an overlock foot, a binder foot, etc.

Here is the model I have though Wal-Mart which is now selling it for about $80. http://www.brother-usa.com/Homesewing/modeldetail.aspx?PRODUCTID=LS2125&tab=optional

But Wal-Mart is having a fabulous sale on another Brother machine which is more advanced than my present one for about $40., if you purchase the sewing table. At that price they're practically giving the machine away. Here's the Wal-Mart link:
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=10757455&findingMethod=rr

And here's an Amazon link on all the people who love brother sewing machines:
http://www.amazon.com/review/product/B000EOX28E/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?%5Fencoding=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

And here is a helpful link on what and how all the presser feet are used (I have a lot of used sewing books I purchased online and not one goes into the many reasons for using all the different presser feet so this might help):
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art19631.asp

Finally, if you're having problems purchasing clothing for your children there is a ready solution that fits into every household's budget - a thrift shop. My mother raised 11 children and between hand-me-downs and the thrift shop the only thing we ever received new were shoes and underwear. In these hard economic times I work with a local church and we have a free thrift shop. Anyone who needs clothing or housewares is welcome to come in and help themselves. You'd be surprised how many middle class families come to our shop because these times are hard even for people not normally in need. We also get a lot of mothers who take some of the clothing for their children to refurbish into different styles. Material is material after all. Anyway, I hope all this information is a help to you. Good Luck!

Do you happen to still have the machine your Mother bought you? It might be excellent to start with. I personally love vintage machines. I sew on a 1964 model almost every day. I also have several from the early 1900's as well as a 1951 featherweight and a top of the line brother embroidery/sewing machine. I prefer the 1964 model to sew on.

Susan