Sometimes the bobbin has to go in a certain way, so they say. On my Bernina it's suppose to wind clock wise????? I never pay too much attention to it & have tried it backwards delibertly just to see how it would sew. It did fine. But when my Featherweight wouldn't pick up the thread, the thread mechanism wasn't snapped in place correctly & my (sr. moment here too)thread pick up bar was cracked? Luckily I know a machine repair man & he was very helpful. Good luck & glad we can all share our sr. moments....