See if there’s a machine repair shop near you. With my old Good Houskeeper, I had no directions and the Internet wasn’t super helpful. I got pointed to the sewing machine shop and it was the best thing I ended up doing. They showed me what did what on the machine, how to thread it, etc. I ended up paying them $45 or so to give it a tune up and it was well worth it. I’ve since been back a few times and they’re always good enough to help me with whatever questions I’ve had.
For my first projects I did some zipper pull outs that I gave to the boys. I followed a tutorial that was done here on Rokslide and it was really helpful. Then I sewed up some quilts with Apex insulation, followed by a silpoly tarp, then the pyramid tent. Shockingly enough, they all came out okay. As long as you can get the machine threaded properly and make a straight stitch, you’re pretty well set. The zig zag stitch can come in handy at times, but that’s really about it. Check out Ripstop by the rolls site and YouTube videos. They show one way to make stuff sacks and also sell kits with the material to make some. They also have a closeout/sale area on their site which I find dangerous to look at. You can get whatever amounts of silnylon or whatever you’d like to mess around with that’s cheaper. It definitely helps to do some sewing with the thinner, coated materials so you get used to how it runs through the machine and you can figure out your tension.
Jeremy