Raise the presser foot. Turn the handwheel until the take-up lever is at the top. Thread from the spool, through the upper guide, down the right channel, around the bottom turn, up the left channel and through the take-up lever, then down the lower guides and into the needle front to back. Those two preconditions — foot up, lever up — account for most threading faults, and neither is mentioned in the diagram printed on the machine.
Questions people actually ask
Why does my thread keep coming out of the needle?
Because the take-up lever was not at its highest point when you threaded. If the lever is down, the thread has no slack at the start of the first stitch and it pulls straight back out. Turn the handwheel towards you until the lever is at the top before you thread.
Does the presser foot need to be up?
Yes, and this is the second classic mistake. The tension discs only open when the presser foot is raised. Thread with the foot down and the thread sits outside the discs — the machine then sews with no top tension at all, which looks like a bobbin problem underneath.
Last reviewed 2026-08-11