Choosing the right machine that will work for all of your projects is hard. Most hobby stitchers and small businesses just have one all purpose sewing machine and maybe a serger. If you are serious about making quality finished pieces the right machine is imperative. 
I have sat at my home sewing machine and felt so frustrated. All I wanted to do is finish up a sewing project and for some reason or another the machine would not cooperate. The most common reason is usually a tension issue. And other times because I had pushed the machine to limit by sewing things that were not suited for my machine causing damage. In situations when my machine was at its limit I would schedule a repair. I was lucky enough to have a mechanic who came to my house and repaired it the same day. The first time he came he shook his head and said “I don’t know how you have even been sewing on this machine, what in the world have you been sewing?”
Eventually, I got a walking foot industrial machine and it improved my work in several ways. It was so much fun to sew again. It went fast and never seemed to mess up! It is easier to make the transition to a walking foot by the way. Using heavy thread on huge spools is more efficient and produces better work. Occasionally I get tension issues, but they are easier to resolve. It takes less time to complete a project and the finished piece looks professional. I felt silly for holding out so long on the industrial machine. There are great deals out there on used Industrial Machines. I paid $600 for mine. It was well worth the upgrade and paid for itself pretty quickly.
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