I think I've resolved the thread issue, The upper thread was getting caught on something. The machine and the booklet do not look the same, so I was threading it through an area that it was not supposed to go through, and also the tension was off. I need to talk to someone from the company to see how it is supposed to look where the thread comes down, it seems like something is missing, or maybe it's just that there is a different foot on it. I'm hoping they have a more detailed book that I can buy, and the right bobbins, and advice on where to attach a pointer.