My mother, who sewed for close to 70 plus years ALWAYS told me to NEVER pull the thread back towards the top. I cut right where the thread starts at the machine and pull it down at the needle. My BabyLock dealer teaches that also. I have a BabyLock Espire, which is now called Symphony, over the last 30 years my Mom has owned at least 10 different BabyLocks. She's gone now but I remember everything she taught me about sewing machines. I would love to upgrade my machine but finances won't allow me to spend that kind of money just now. I had mine in for a PM last week and was talking to one of the girls in the shop. Apparently BabyLock is discontinuing many of their machines but I did see one that I would love to get. It's called Journey - like the Unity but is also an embroidery machine.