My 6 year old is asking for a sewing machine for Christmas (thank you Isabelle from American Girl) and all the reviews for the toy machines said they are junk and to just go ahead and get a real machine. I have been looking for weeks and I just pulled the trigger and bought a Janome 3/4 Hello Kitty machine on Overstock. It is $120 everywhere else plus tax and shipping. I paid $106 total with a 2 year replacement plan, no tax and shipping was free. Hope this helps someone else out.