I got my Phoenix to sew. You have to put the bobbin thread through a little loop - I missed that the first 65 times I tried - I finally said Uncle and looked it up on line and got that fixed. I'm wondering what needle it takes. Mine has a needle image on the slide plate - much smaller than the needle in the machine. It says 1738 so I wonder what that means. If it is smaller, why does the needle in the machine work? I haven't tested the decorative stitches yet - I still need to get power to the machine. It's table is at the shop and the machine is at home... I think I might fall in love with this one.