fwiw:
I sew. My mother [ and Grandmother] was a professional seamstress.
I sew on my mother's original Singer 401A machine, their basic workhorse model, mine's circa 1955-ish.
Other than diligent cleaning, you can't kill this beast - stil runs perfect. So I'm partial to the brand.
Imo, most "home" sewing doesn't benefit much from newer "electronic" machines and the fancy ge-gaws and auto-stitching
Most sewing is straight-stiching and zig-zag stitching, the latter most often used for making buttonholes.
A zipper-foot attachment, and if you want to go crazy there's no shortage of other short-cut or specialty attachments.
Some hard core types will swear by sergers which are very nice, but pricey. Learn how to make french seams instead
An ability to follow directions and patience [for pulling out all those stitches on your screw-ups] and some solid learning about fabric types and fitting garments pretty much sums it up.
It's a very satisfying pastime, hobby, whatever. Having the eventual ability to modify or alter off-the-rank clothes truly rocks as well. And, the longer you sew the easier it is to recognize shit sewing you see in every clothing store and start to improve your own clothes buying accordingly.
:thumbup