Hi Colleen, Thanks for your advice! I've oiled the machine in all the holes, but when i turned it over, I couldn't see any holes for me to oil? I've had a look and usually the first stitch works, and then afterwards, it all just goes crazy. the thread snaps, sometimes the thread under the material gets all bunched up. Sometimes it even decides to do a few stitches! But the bottom of the material never looks right. I've tried moving the dog pedal (? is that what it's called? the little razor things) but I can't decide which is 'up'. I'm wondering if that's just adding to my problems. Either way, the thread keeps on snapping regardless of what I do, whether there are stitches or not. I tried playing around with the tension but it doesn't really seem to do much? When I turned it over, I had a look at what was going on, and it seemed the thread would just get tangled in the bobbin, which then caused it to snap. But I'm at a loss as to *why* it's snapping. RE the vintage singer forum, if it helps, I'm in Australia. There's a label on the engine that says it's made in Victoria, by "Warren Playton" but I've tried googling that name too, and it's come up with nothing. Thanks for your advice! I'll give the tension thing another go after lunch.

Thread snapping and needle breaking sounds like wrong threading or wrong setup. All sewing machines needs service now and then. Give the machine some TLC, oil all places, check with the instruction manual if you have it. There are holes to be oiled, lids to be lifted, sometimes loosening of a screw or two is needed. All models and makes are different this way. In general: move all joints and moving parts that touch, it is all about reducing friction. Check for any threads and lint around the bobbin case and feed dogs (unscrew the needle plate if necessary). It's surprising what can gather there over time. Double check that threading is done correctly on both under thread and over thread. Some models are very particular, the bobbin has to go in the right way (the way it is wound). Then check needle, sometimes low quality needles make machines act up, if possible use Schmetz or Orgran during truble shooting. Check that the needle is put in the correct way for your model (flat side either to the right, left or backwards). This should give you an indication of how the needle is threaded, usually straight on when the flat side of the needle is in the back (facing away from you). Make sure the thread doesn't go around the needle, only straight along the shaft through the hole and under the pressure foot and backwards. Needles needs to be replaced quite often, and make sure they are sharp and not bent. Thicker needle for denim and heavier fabrics, finer for thinner fabrics. Always sharp needle unless you sew jersey or knits. This might have solved the problem, but if not: When you have double checked correct insertion of the needle, set the machine to straight stitching. Make sure the needle doesn't hit the needle plate by manually moving the balance wheel. There is most likely a function for moving the needle to the left or to the right, and there is often a mark on the needle plate for correct posistion. Don't drag the fabric at all when trouble shooting, let the feed dogs do all the work. You most likely don't have to adjust under thread tension, but double check that upper thread tension mechanism is clean and lint free. Some models have automatic tension (Bernina had it on their 60s models), others have a manual knob with numbers, models differ a bit that way. If upper thread tension is too high the tread will snap, but most often it is wrong threading or setup when adjusting the tension doesn't solve it. Only bother about this after straight stitching works fine: Then set the machine to zigzag, check the needle movement manually with your hand turning the balance wheel a few times. The needle should go clear of the needle plate and move within the space it is meant for. There is limit to how wide the zigzag stitch can be set (how far the needle arm swing from right to left when sewing).

I learned to sew on a Singer sewing Machine and remember quite vividly how my feet used to go like gangbusters on that thing. Here is what I have done with mine. We took off the top completely including the belt. Gave the iron base a fresh coat of black paint( looks great), and had a piece of lightly tinted tempered glass with slightly rounded corners( no sharpe edges) put on the top.The glass cutter gave us some small fancy flat fasteners to attach it to the base where the original screws held the top originally. I have it in our front foyer and use it as a table to put whatever seasonal decor I want. At Christmas time one of my larger Dept 56 Dickens Village pieces and accessories make a very nice entrance to the house.I hve also thought that a nice piece of marble on the top, would work well with the iron base perhaps in a kitchen.

I love my serger, I've used it to make lots of things, last year I made table runners with matching placemats for all my girls for Christmas. I find if you go slow with the threading it isn't that hard. The main issue with threading is to make sure the thread goes into the tension disks for each needle. I also have the floss threaders but it's almost just as easy to use my fingers and a bent tip tweezer. YouTube has a bunch of serger videos and they are really good for helping you understand the tension set up and threading. Baby blankets are a really fast project and comes in handy when you need a shower gift. I don't know what we did when we didn't have YouTube lol.