Cat Sews Retro Singer Merritt 1802

How do you get the top thread to catch the bottom thread? Mine won't catch.

I have this machine and it sews incredibly fast. How do I slow it down? It seems to only do fast with foot pedal, but I don't want to rely on the hand wheel! Would love to try some appliqué etc but this machine just seems too fast.

I cannot get my machine threaded correctly. Can someone please make a video of how to thread this model correctly? I am extremely 😞. Thanks.

thanks 😍

I can't seem to find tutorials on this specific machine anywhere!