Advice? A sewing machine is a de facto extension of your hands. Work with it-and work out what it likes and what it doesn't (two identical machines can act as different as night and day.)Play with it with different threads, needles, adjustments, materials, attachments-there is very little chance that you are going to cause irreparable damage by playing with it, the worst that happens usually is that you have to readjust it from generic specs, and even that isn't the end of the world. Sewing machines by their nature are user-friendly, almost anyone can make a sewing machine "do its duty" when they have to; but to do it well, and with some degree of consistency, you have to study it in action. Does it like to work cloth to one side? Does it have a sweet spot for golden stitching? How does it prefer its bobbins? When does it want its drink of oil? Is there a certain place the machine always wants to stop when you stop giving it juice? Learn these, and you can't help but become a better operator. Operator isn't even the right word, I can't bring the right one to mind. I can "operate" plenty of different machines, but there are three specific machines I am any good on, and all three took some getting acquainted with. It sounds like a cop-out, but do all you can to change the status of the machine from "a sewing machine" to "YOUR sewing machine" Cheers! Chaz