Feel free to laugh at me...
 

Just got my Brother PQ1500S, at the recommendation of someone here in the board, and I'm excited but more than slightly intimidated at the thought of threading this new machine! My last little cheapie model had numbers on the machine with arrows telling me which way the thread goes. LOL I'm sure I'll learn it, but I think I'd better hang onto that Quick Start guide for a while!

I have that machine and love it, but I did have to hang on to the quick start guide for a bit to remember how to thread it. I love the automatic needle threader!!! I hope you enjoy the machine as much as I enjoy mine.

I have this machine and can't find but one con about it. I cannot use the auto threader. I can't understand the manual's line drawing of it and I have been to every Brother dealer in the area and not one had a PS1500 which of course has a different needle threader then the other Brothers. I guess I could tote the machine to the dealers but it's sure heavy. I have looked at it through a magnifying glass and still can't figure it out. I don't have a problem threading manually but one day I'd like to figure it out. No use in typing directions, without someone showing me or pictures I won't get it.

That's why they print 'cheat sheets' -

Thank goodness!

I have to have the instructions for my Janome Jem as it's different from my 'home' machine and I forget when I'm in class/Guild and I've had it over a year.
Have fun with your new machine.
Annie

BellaBoo - hopefully this autothreader is the same one you have on your machine....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaZAxXXOpAo&feature=plcp

Jenel - good luck with your new machine, you will love it! I have 6 machines - 2 Janomes, a Singer, a Pfaff, and 2 Brothers, and my Brother 1500 is by far my favorite!

If I figure it out, BellaBoo, I'll take a video and post it to YouTube.

Wow, that's a great endorsement! I've heard such wonderful things. So far, I haven't even turned my on. I took the instruction manual to bed with me last night and read it through. Hopefully I'll find some time to play today.

i have my juki tl98q on my frame. since i am not 100% sure of the threading, i made a copy of the threading instructions from the manual and keep it right under the machine... very handy!

Watched the video, thanks.
I never could figure out how to use the needle threader. Now I know, its easier to just thread the needle so Im not missing anything.

LOL! That's what I was thinking when I watched the video! I'll try out the needle threader, but it seems like it would be just as much of a challenge to use it as it would be to thread the needle myself.

I had to keep looking at my manual for my Singer for at least 3 months. lol. My new machine has the numbers and arrows, even without them, it is still easier to thread.

Congrats on your new machine!!!!

I keep my manual for my Janome Horizon right by the machine and I use it a lot. The automatic needle threader was a mystery to me for months, and then one day I kept at it and figured it out. Now, I never thread the machine the old way..... darn bifocals anyway!

So happy to hear you have a new machine! Congratulations! I'm so happy for you. You'll love it!!

I have that machine and I am sure you will enjoy it. Just remember to thread the needle from the left hand side as you put the needle in side-on, not so that it is facing you.Happy sewing.

mine had the guide printed right on the machine and I went back to the shop(over an our away)"#&% 3 times to finally figure it out.

I've had my Brother NX 2000 since last October but still use the manual regularly. The threader on it was fairly easy to learn but I had trouble learning the threader on my Bernina 380. It just did not make sense to me and the pictures in the manual didn't help. Love both my machines but there is no way I will remember all that they do and put the manuals away. They are my BFFs.

Enjoy your machine. Fun times ahead!

Congrats on your new machine. I hope the video someone posted will help you use the needle threader. Yeah, those quick start guides are very helpful. I don't own a Brother so I can't give you any help but I'm sure you'll figure it out.

I have CRS- so that manual is within a very close reach to it !LOL My grands made me a plaque that states my grandmother has CRS- can't remember stuff within a heart .. LOL so that one proudly hangs in my sewing room !LOL and they are right.
I told them to always refer to the manual for their machines as every machine model is different, read the manual first then sew and refer to the manual as needed to prevent frustration.

Apparently a lot of people have the same problem. It's the first thing that comes up on the Brother web site when you go to PQ1500. I notice at the bottom of the page there is a list of thread/needle combinations that will not work with the automatic threader. Maybe that is your real problem.

No laughter coming from me either as I keep the manuals for my machines with the machines even though I've been sewing with some of them for years.

Thank you so much for the link Peckish. I have never in my life used a needle threader on a machine. I watched the video and did it on my "new" Brother machine I got this week even though it's a different model. What a concept! Thank you again. Maybe I ought to take a class. :o

I keep the manuals for my machines handy -- my Janomes have the threading indicated on them, but my old Elna does not. At church we have several machines and no manuals so threading is by the seat of my pants (always stressful). The worst is trying to remember how to wind the bobbin of the Singer that winds the bobbin in the top loading bobbin case. I don't do it often enough to remember -- and I never remember to bring the bobbin winder into church.

It's a HORRIBLE threader. I've had my machine for more than 10 years and absolutely LOVE it! I've taken it to be cleaned and every machine expert has agreed that the threader leaves a lot to be desired......SO.....I just manually thread it and all is fine.....I've another machine and the threader is wonderful, but I still love the brother for it's plain, no nonsense sewing....reminds me of the Singer 221 in that it's a workhorse. I know you will soon have the threading down and will become very attached to this lovely machine.....Just FYI, I've learned to clean it completely by easily taking the bottom off and brushing out any lint. I also brush the lint from the bobbin area at every bobbin change. Easy machine to use and clean.....best of luck with yours. I hope you love it as much as I love mine....:)

I have one and love it. My best advice is KEEP YOUR MANUAL WITHIN ARMS REACH. If you follow the instructions carefully a few times, you will succeed in threading your machine correctly every time. If you forget something, reach for your manual. Don't underestimate your machine. It's very sophisticated and you need time and practice to fully enjoy it. And don't underestimate yourself; you will get the hang of it quickly!

Someone had to say it.......... If it's automatic, why do you need instructions?

I also have several different makes and models of machines. (Don't we all?) So I have to bookmark the threading page for each machine so I don't end up miss-threading and have a mess on my hands.

Lol that's a good question, one we should put to the manufacturers!

No, I am definately no laughing....I love those Quick Start guids, as far as I'm concerned they need to be laminated!

I've had that machine since it first came out, almost 10 yrs & love it, it is super, super for free moton. Hints-I find it is better for free motion when it is threaded thru all three holes on that top thingy, there is a picture in the manual, but a nuisance to get floppy thread thru all 3 holes so when I change thread I just tie the ends of the new spool to the ends of the thread from the old spool & pull it thru. Of course the knot won't go thru the needle so at that point I thread the needle manually, do not like the automatic threader.
Also when doing free motion use a stretch needle, size 14, no loopies, no missed stitches. This information was from a Brother tech when I first got the machine, really the best hint ever.

I wish I could remove the needle threader from my machine, as it is in the way when I thread the needle manually.
I'm left handed and it just don't work for me.

I can't get to my sewing room (new flooring being installed) but thank you so much for the video. It has always frustrated me the dealers couldn't show me. I even asked one of the reps in the Brother booth at Paducah quilt show! No luck. None of the reps in the booth knew how the 1500 worked. Their excuse was it was too old a model for them to know about. ?

I fired up my new baby for the first time yesterday, and I LOVE IT!!!! Okay, definite learning curve. I kept getting a big glob of thread on the bottom, and it would get jammed in the machine. I looked on the Yahoo group for PQ 1500S owners, and someone suggested that the thread might be in the bobbin backwards. I rethreaded the bobbin, and away I went, no problems at all! I tried the quilting foot - loved it! - then did my first free-motion quilting, and it was surprisingly easy. (Which makes me think I must be doing something wrong. LOL) I am going to have SO much fun with this!!! It's just worlds away from my starter sewing machine. This feels like it was built to last.

I spent the weekend doing a lot of applique in different colours thread on my new machine. I changed thread so many times that threading has become an aoutomatic action and I do not have to think, wonder and peek in the book. Seem practice does make perfect!