First off... I am not one to get into forums and just go contrary to eveything that everyone says. The advise above is well founded and well worth taking into account. If you are wanting to get into this trade or to do a big project for yourself, then yes, read and follow the afore mentioned advise.
But... lol
What are you trying to sew? And What are your plans going forward? You did't mention if you were just recovering one chair or had intentions of a full ski boat upholstery job.
Whatever the case I wanted to share my story with other you and other beginners who may not have an extra $700+ to spend on even a budget walking foot machine.
I bought a Bass boat 5 years ago that I wanted to get the seats recovered on. I checked 3 local upholstery shops and got bids. I am not sure if the shops had kids they were trying to send to Harvard or what but I about died. The bids ranged from $1000 to $1200 and they didn't bat an eye telling me those estimates. Being the do-it-yourselfer that I am is said "@&*^ THAT!". So I bought some marine vinyl and told my daugher to break out her home sewing machine. We did some research and found we "needed" a teflon foot and a leather needle (one with a sharp, edged point.... They have a name which escapes me at the moment). Anyway we procured those and got some marine vinyl, #69 Bonded polyester thread and got to work.
At this point about all i knew about sewing you could write on a postage stamp. My daughter knew some. But here we went. Her machine was a simple Brother home sewing machine like you would sew clothes on. Nothing special. I would not even call it "heavy duty". Long story short, I learned a lot. But the seats turned out not too bad. They have been on the boat 4 years and are not perfect by any means but they look as good as the day we recovered them. And I had less than $200 in recovered seats. So far I have had NO stitches rip out.
Would I do it again? Maybe. Probably not. I watched a youtube video later on and the guy recommended NOT to start with bass boat seats because they are pretty complex. But this is where i started and I did learn a lot on this first project. I found I actually enjoyed it. Right after this I got a small portable walking foot sewing machine and did some other practice projest for myself. Before long I started doing work for friends. This machine also had drawbacks but I have done many jobs with it and have no complaints with it at all. But i recently aquired an industrial machine that i am getting very used to sewing with.
The stich length is in fact too short. At times it was scary to run the thickness of materials under the foot... and help was needed to feed. But it didn't seem like the machine was severly loaded punching the needle through. There was also flat- felled seams. If you are just wanting to do a small project for yourself here and there, get a teflon foot and a leather needle and give it a shot. You may find you want to do more and will be best served with getting a good walking foot machine as recommend above... and fYI... get with a servo motor.... :)
Best of luck to you going forward and revisit us often. There are some great folks here willing to help you.
Attached are before and after pics of the seats I patterned and cut out and my daughter sewed (mostly... I did some.) We litterally did the sewing on the kitchen table.