Buttonholes - Featherweight Style

Picture the scene . . . I had almost completed the first shirt for Mr. SDSC, and all I needed to do was add the button and buttonholes.  I checked out how to make the buttonholes on my Pfaff 2020 Tiptronic machine.  Put some test fabric under the foot and voila.  What a nightmare.  I was so disappointed.  Despite an intertubes search, I could not find any top-tips, and the manual was sadly lacking.  I considered chatting up Mr. SDSC and seeing how he felt about me spending @$1000 on a new machine that would make fancy smancy buttonholes, then thought how I would prefer to spend it on fabric instead, and so I dragged out my lovely Singer Featherweight.

It is in really good condition, and I knew it would work with my singer buttonhole attachment:

 

I just love how it all fits into the space age container.  This attachment cost about $25 and made perfect buttonholes on the shirt.

OK, so maybe it is a little hard to see white buttonholes on white stripey fabric with white buttons, but I am trying!

All-in-all I am thilled with these buttonholes - the time it took to set up this machine and buttonholer took only a few minutes - and will use this set up in future.  I know that I am lucky to have more than one machine, but it makes you realize why professional dressmakers (and non-professionals as well) have dedicated machines for different processes.  It is also interesting that a machine that it over 60yrs old and a buttonholer of about the same age still make perfect buttonholes.  I love my Pfaff in so many ways, but buttonholes are not its speciality!

What about you?  Do you have any equipment/notions that you find are far superior to their modern day counterparts?