I purchased this serger when my older model singer became out of time. It would have cost me almost as much to repair as to purchase this machine. I was afraid of the treading but finally sat down and watched a tutorial on line and was able to thread the machine without any problems. I haven't gotten to sew much but did do one project and I was very pleased with the result. The only negative I have was with a case I purchased to go with the machine. It is more like a box that you take the machine out of than a fitted case. The case also takes up a good deal of space. It I had to do over I would not have purchased the case, but made a nice cover to put over the machine when not in use.