By no means a master of the sewing arts (I own a newer Singer model myself, but can barely thread the darn thing - I keep meaning to learn how to use it, as it would enhance my costuming hobby mightily), but I've picked up a couple of things, mostly from working with my fiance on stuff.
First, using a low-end model on banners is probably not a good idea. They can handle light-to-medium-weight cloth, but not much more than that. Your "new" superwhammodyne high-torque model is likely much better for that job. Once you figure out how to use it.
Second, Standing Wolf is right, the machine will fill the bobbin for you, and once you have it threaded to do so, it will do it fast. Threading it to fill a bobbin is NOT done the same way as threading it to sew - but it'll be MUCH easier to thread it for the former than the latter
. And he's absolutely right, no sewing machine threads the same as any other model, from what I can tell.
Third, thread breakage is a fact of life when sewing, but can be greatly reduced by using the right kind of thread and needle for your machine and fabric, and using the right kind of machine and foot for a certain fabric (as noted before, a light-duty machine will not handle heavy fabrics, like, say, leather, at ALL well). Thread breakage seems to go way up if the fabric does not move smoothly through the machine - as opposed to slip-sliding all over the place, which is just as bad as binding.
You know about briefly reversing the machine when you're done sewing a section or piece, to finish and lock down the stitch you just did, right?
I realize that these hints may be of only minor help, but hopefully it was at least a LITTLE useful. Did you get a manual?
