Kudos to you for actually looking at - and following - the instructions.
Sometimes the illustrations could be a lot better.
Many of us think we already know how to sew - and when we actually look at the actual instructions - in the book - we find out that we have been doing it incorrectly. Sometimes we have a forgiving machine that will run in spite of ourselves.
Many machines want the presser foot "up" when the top thread is being threaded - because that way the tension discs are "relaxed" and the thread goes into/between them properly. Don't know if that applies to your machine or not.
I only use about three or four of the different presser feet that I have. The "all-purpose" one that came with the machine, a zipper foot, and the darning/hopping foot, and the button foot are the ones I use most often. There are several that came with one of my machines that I have no idea of what they are for - much less how to use them.
There are some "kids" books available on how to sew that might be helpful. I learned some things from them when I was looking through them.