do you read the instructions before starting to use anew machine?
 

Or do you just " start in" and hope for the best?

A Well -written manual does have a lot of useful information in it.

I have been amazed at how much I learned when I read the instructions!;)

I read everything, then keep it near by for future reference.

All my friends make fun of me.....I never read manuals on anything until I have at least tried to make it work! I am 72 and this works for me! Those same friends call me to come over and troubleshoot their machines (and appliances) because they can't figure them out even with a manual...so I guess it depends on your comfort/confidence level! I have found I can sit down and thread any sewing machine without direction (sergers are a different story, so I have the BL, problem solved) and there are only so many ways to make a bobbin work, trial and error never broke anything....yet!

When I got my little portable Europro machine I did just start using it. It is a very basic machine, and much like using my Singer 15-91. But when I got my Janome 6600P there was so much more to it, I did need the manual and some instructions to make it fully functional. From taking the first 2 classes it made the manual make more sense. Then I bought my Husqvarna embroidery/sewing machine it was demonstrated - appeared to be easy to use, but I wanted the additional class to help me understand all the machine could do. I bought the embroidery computer software from a place 110 miles up the road, wish I had bought it locally so I could have had more training on it.

Once I know the basics then I am able to play around more with the machine to get the results I want.

I didn't read the manual on my first machine (even though it was super short). Years later, I was struggling with something & read through everything and learned I was doing some things "wrong". Started following the manual & low and behold, my sewing dramatically improved and thread stopped breaking so often. Now I consider the manual a must-read.

I am a read the manual first person.

Absolutely!

Hugs

Caroline

I just jump in but with my Baby Lock I got free lessons included and took advantage of those. The manual does come in handy to trouble-shoot or when I want to use a feature that is not committed to memory.

Generally I just skim over it because many machines are similar enough that you can start right in. However when I bought my Juki 2000 I found I did have to read it first because there are differences, such as the way the needle is inserted, threading etc. I keep the manual handy so I can refer to it as needed-usually for the self-threader.

Yes, I read the manual first. I also take it with me to classes.