Originally Posted by MacThayer

Brother's are very bobbin "fussy". You have to make sure you are using the right bobbin. Most of the time they cannot be bought right off the shelf. I used to buy mine straight from Brother to make sure I got the right ones, and they do look different from the ones 'off the shelf'. Make sure you have it threaded correctly for bobbin winding. I didn't get it right at first, and messed up a few bobbins. THEN I read the manual, looked at the machine, re-threaded, and all went well. Watch the bobbin carefully as it winds. You may not have to do this so much with your machine. I had a much cheaper machine, but still have heard that Brother's can be "bobbin fussy". Just watch that the bobbin winds smoothly. I never filled mine all the way..... just went to just shy of full. Otherwise I was pulling thread off the bobbin and wasting it. I've had to do that with other machines, so I don't think that is unique to Brother's. Get one of those "Bobbin Genies". I think that's what they call them. The little round circles of teflon that fit in the bobbin case and let the bobbin ride freely. Makes a difference, in all machines! Then just make sure you insert it correctly, and bring up the bobbin thread, and that goes smoothly. As long as I had well wound bobbin thread that came up smoothly to the top the first time I pulled it up, I never had a problem.

I wouldn't let a little problem like this stop me from buying a machine I wanted. On the other hand, since my first bad experience, I have never bought a machine model that I didn't first spend a couple of hours sewing on before I made my decision. It's just too important of a decision, at least for me, and I think for most serious quilters and sewers.