I picked up an old 1916 Singer commercial duty one (not the smaller home style). It's a 31-15. It was $200, came with table and 1/3 hp motor. When you rev it, the machine nearly jumps off the table, so it's as manly of a sewing machine as I could find. I've only just started doing some straight stitch work for practice. It should do the job, but even though its commercial duty its not a walking machine so I'll have to be careful on thicker stuff. It was previously being used to do rigging for parachutes, so I guess it's been trusted with more important things than car seats!
