Leahday.com will tell you from step one. How to set up your machine, what tools you might need. She has many videos free on her website and you-tube, but I would start with her website. She now has some classes for sale on Craftsy and her website, but I think to get started the free ones are good. To practice, I bought kid/baby panels, on sale preferably because I wasn't very motivated to just stitch on practice pieces. You can then donate the finished items, if you choose.