It's just a cotton piece of fabric from the dollar store, I was just testing it out. I do have quilting cotton that's more expensive but I was just testing things. So you can't sew on one thin piece of fabric and get stitches like ------- ? I apologize if I sound ignorant I'm actually not much of a sewist or seamstress and I'm not very knowledgeable about old machines, I just love it so much and would love to get it working and sewing properly. I will definitely buy some sharp needles! Thank you so much