Poor Little Sewing Machine...

So... I recieved a sewing machine for Christmas somewhere around 8 years ago (while I was still in high school). It was a basic Kenmore from Sears. Not a bad little machine. Nothing fancy, but totally capable of most things that I need. When I recieved it, I knew nothing about how to take care of it, and after multiple moves, I have long since lost the owner's manual. For a while now, it has been sick. It doesn't seem to mind stitching a strait stitch, but it hacks a lot when I try to make a zig-zag, and it skips stitches. I have been able to work around this particular issue. I have gotten out of the habit of frequent sewing projects because a) I never knew if my little machine would be able to make it through, and b) I couldn't do it with the puppies while they were still babies. Now that the puppies are a little older, I have the time and availability. As seen in a recent post, I began with something simple (an apron). Being thrilled with the results, I decided to share the love and work on something awesome for a friend of mine who's getting married.
While in Lubbock, my sister (an awesome seamstress) helped me begin the project. While at the house yesterday, I thought that then would be a good time to finish it. I put it in my machine, lowered the pressure foot, turned the machine on, pressed the foot-pedal, the needle went up and down, and then it stopped. When I pulled out the fabric to check on the problem, all I found was a knotted mess of thread. I re-threaded the machine, took out the bobbin and replaced it. I removed the thread ball, and attempted to repeat the process. Five times I attempted to repeat the process. Finally, I accepted the fact that I think I finally killed my machine.
So, goodbye little machine, you served me well.
On the plus side, Josh was planning on buying me a new one when we moved anyway, so he's considering letting me get one now so that I can finish this project :) Which reminds me... If any of you out there in blogland have sewing machine advice, I would LOVE to hear it. I want to get something a little nicer than my last one. Maybe even a digital one... Any thoughts? Singer? Brother? White? Bernina? Viking? (ok, so I can't really afford those last two, but they sure are fun to look at!)