Just a couple of months ago I had a thread problem with my Janome 7700. My repair man also told me about cutting the thread and pulling it through. He sounded as if I should know that piece of information. I had heard it from my cousin's husband awhile back who knew nothing about sewing machines so I didn't give it much thought. Always do it this way now. Evidently pieces of thread can get caught in the tension disk and then the thread hangs up. Who knew!