That silver knob just above the badge is the Stitch Regulator Nob. It is covered in the owners manual.
Turn it all the way in ( clockwise) till it stops and you get the longest stitches.
Turn it out ( counter clockwise ) and the stitches get smaller until it just stops feeding.
It uses regular 15x1 needles that go in flat to the right.
The needle threads left to right.
If all is clean under the needle plate and you have the Stitch Regulator Nob turned all the way in, and the needle is in correctly and you have it threaded correctly there is no reason it shouldn't make lots of purty stitches.
Joe