Solution

12 years ago I traded in the sewing machine I had been given for my 21st birthday.  It was an Elnita which was made by Elna but more of a budget brand I think.

That machine had done some serious sewing I can tell you.

I upgraded to a Janome - Decor Excel Pro 5124

A couple of years later I upgraded again to the latest whizz-bang model Janome had, the Memory Craft 6500P and that is still my machine today, nine years on, hundreds of projects completed including kids clothes, my clothes, quilts, hand bags, dolls and bears...

Thankfully a couple of years ago I got my DE back - I had loaned it to a lady who needed a machine but wasn't in a position to buy one at that time.  She had it for quite some time and when baby bear #2 expressed an interest in sewing I asked for it back.  There was no way I was going to teach her to sew on the MC, it's just too much machine.

Anyway I have reclaimed ownership of the DE temporarily, much to baby bear #2's disgust.  Too bad, I'm the mum.