There is a trick to sergers and threading them. They come from the factory already threaded, with the threads snipped off about a foot long on top. You tie your thread to the threads that are left hanging and simply pull them through. If you are lucky the only thing you have to actually thread is the needle. I learned that trick when I worked for Levi Strauss and carried it over when I got a serger at home. Like the others, I used mine a lot when my daughter was young, but hardly ever use it anymore.