Learn one of the very first skills of sewing – how to thread your sewing machine! There’s absolutely no getting around threading your machine, so this guide will teach you how to do so with lots of pictures and little tips. Don’t be intimidated, you’ll find this to be completely effortless in no time!
Read your manual
The very first step to thread your sewing machine is to read the manual! Although these steps are pretty much the same for most machines, yours might have some small differences. If you don’t have a manual for your machine, you can probably view it online for free (just google your machine’s make and model). It will have very clear diagrams that match (almost) exactly what your machine looks like, so it really is a good first step to take.
If you have a Brothercs6000i like me, here is a link that has a download for the manual.
Place spool of thread on the spool pin
You might have to pull the spool pin up first.
Check your manual to see if the direction the thread comes off the spool matters. On my machine, it doesn’t.
If your spool pin is horizontal, you will want to use one of the spool caps to make sure the spool doesn’t fly off.
Wind the bobbin
If you need to wind your bobbin, go ahead and do that now. I have a quick tutorial on how to do it here.
Make sure presser foot is up and needle is in highest position
Make sure that the needle is in the highest position and the presser foot is up. The needle position affects the thread take-up lever position, and the presser foot affects the tension disc, so you want them in place now.
To raise the needle, turn the handwheel toward you (counterclockwise).
To raise the presser foot, push the presser foot lever up.
Pass thread through all the thread guides
These next several steps will probably seem like a lot, but eventually this will become muscle memory and literally take 3-4 seconds. I’ve done this on several different machines and it’s always essentially the same. Basically you go over, then down, up, down. Your machine will also probably have numbers right on the machine for each step.
This picture shows the path the thread will take. I also put numbers where all the numbers on my machine are, and they will correspond to the next 5 steps.
1. Take thread from spool and pass through first thread guide
Go through the slit, from back to front, under and over.
2. Take thread down the second thread guide
Go down through the long slit. There’s a tension disc here, which the thread will pass through.
3. Take thread around bend and up third thread guide
Go around the bend and up the third thread guide, making sure to keep your thread to the right of the thread take-up lever (the little metal piece that goes up and down when you turn the handwheel).
4. Take thread through the thread take-up lever and back down thread guide
Now pass your thread through the thread take-up lever, from right to left. On some machines, this lever will stick out the top, so it’s easier to see what’s going on than on my machine. Usually you will pass the thread through a slit at the back to get it into the lever. Or on some machines, it’s a closed hole and you need to poke the thread into it, like threading a needle.
Now come back down the last thread guide. The thread will stay in the slit, I just have mine pulled off to the side so you can see it.
5. Take thread behind needle bar thread guide
Your machine may or may not have a needle bar thread guide. If it does, pass the thread under it, from whichever side the opening is. Some machines will even have another bar above this, so pass the thread under it first, if your machine has it.
Thread the needle
And now you can thread the needle! Trim the thread if needed and give it a lick (kind of embarrassing to say, but I can’t imagine there’s anyone who doesn’t do this when needed), then poke it through the needle. It will go from front to back on most machines, though some older machines are actually back to front. So again, check your manual.
You might need to use a magnifying glass! If I don’t already have my machine on, I turn it on at this point for the light.
Load bobbin into bobbin case
Now take your bobbin and load it into the bobbin case. My machine has a drop in bobbin. Some machines will have a front load bobbin, which is accessed by removing the compartment case on the front.
Make sure to load the bobbin correctly. On my machine, the thread needs to come off the bobbin counterclockwise. Anytime I’ve done this wrong, I’ve had bobbin tension issues. In fact, if you are having tension issues, the first suggestion is usually to reload your bobbin. So check your manual, and also look to see if there’s a diagram right on your machine, like mine (circled in yellow). I need to pass mine through that curved slit at the front, which causes the thread to go into the tension slit.
Turn handwheel to bring bobbin thread to the top
Hold the needle thread with your left hand and turn the handwheel toward you to lower and raise the needle. This will cause the needle thread to make a loop around the bobbin and catch the bobbin thread.
Once the needle is fully raised, pull the tail of thread you’re holding to pull the bobbin thread to the top (this is basically stitching in slow motion!).
You can then grab the bobbin thread and pull it all the way to the top.
Take both threads under the presser foot
Now the last step is to make sure both threads are under the presser foot. There will usually be some kind of slit on your presser foot that you can pass them through. Or if there’s no slit, just poke them through the opening.
Most the time, you will want the threads to be off to the right side, so that you can hold them when you start sewing, to avoid thread nests/tangles.
And now you know how to thread your sewing machine!
Now practice doing that several times, and also practice stitching on some scrap fabric to make sure that everything looks good. I will be writing a post soon on troubleshooting tension issues (basically, messy stitches), so stay tuned for that!
Was this tutorial clear and helpful for you? Please let me know if you still have any questions about how to thread your sewing machine in the comments below!
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