Hi Zoo Animals, Elegant thread must be thread you purchase in Australia? Or, I have not heard of that brand. My thread is not old or at least I don't believe it was when I purchased it within the last few years. I am a Janome user myself, my sewing machines are MC6500 (sister to your 6600) and my travel machine is a Janome 49360. I don't believe the 550 was out or there was some reason why I chose the Brother at the time. All that said, Janome makes wonderful machines. I hope you continue to embroider and sew your way to millions upon millions of stitches with very little problems. I do know the shredding is from something sharp. I found the thread guide spring had moved down a bit, I pushed it back but today I am not sure if that fixed the problem. Have a wonderful weekend and again thank you. You were very encouraging.