Since I sew almost exclusively for quilting and craft projects, when it came time to replace my last sewing machine, I went with an sturdy, inexpensive model without any bells or whistles. I use the regular straight stitch 99% of the time, with an occasional foray into the zigzag stitch. Over the weekend, I was fooling around making a few small items, and started wondering about all those other stitches, but I didn’t have time to play around with any of them.
Even with a basic model, there are 17 stitch choices available, and I use 2. So I dug out a piece of dark colored fabric and used the white thread already in the machine to see what each of them would do. I did not change any of the settings for stitch length, width or tension, just went through each setting to see what the result would be. Some of the fancier stitches like a scallop and a set of triangles did not turn out at all. I’m guessing I need to pull out the manual and see what sort of adjustments need to be made. Some I recognized, like the blanket stitch, and need to consider using more. Some just looked pretty to me and I need to figure out if they have another more practical use.
Although I’ve had the sewing machine for several years, usually when I sit down to sew I’m trying to get something done and often have limited time. It was a fun exercise to just play around with it.
alookatthelittlethings 
I mostly use my old Singer Featherweight, which is just my speed and has only a straight stitch. I do have another machine, stuck in a closet, that has a few more stitches–I pull it out about once a year! But, who knows–maybe you’ll get inspired to use what you have!
I got this one to replace my featherweight when the repair shop was finally unable to fix it. I loved that machine.