I just looked at the needle tip. It looks a bit rounded compared to other needles I have. Not very much, but under a 10X loop it looks duller. I changed the needle just in case.

Wondering just how long a needle lasts. I used one bobbin of thread. After a bit into the second bobbin, I started hearing that thunk at the the multiple layer seams. I guess those seams wear the needle faster than just sewing through two layers of material.

I'm still learning my new machine. Occasionally the thread breaks either at the bobbin thread, or the spool thread. At first I couldn't figure out what the machine LED display was telling me, but after a while, it finally became clear which one was giving the problem. The old thread I was using in the bobbin is most likely why the thread was breaking. The top spool thread was just catching on things. I am using a very large spool outside the machine, so occasionally it wiggles, and snags on something.

At least I've figured out how the needle threading mechanism works on this Singer. Took me a few hours of looking carefully to see how things worked. Now I can thread the needle on the first try, instead of having to take a half dozen tries before things work.

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.