Yes, the feeddogs have to be dropped. And it helps if you take a stitch and then pull the the bottom thread up to the top and then pull the treads aside out of the way.
I don't have a fancy machine and I can make it work but I'm not so good yet. I make a pile of quilt sandwiches for practice.
There are some good demonstrations on YouTube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-d_cLN-ayE