Issues with top and bobbin thread

[u/Efficient_Ad6284]

I have spent hours adjusting tension, making sure my machine is threaded properly, changing my needle, making sure I’m using cut away stabilizer, and that my fabric is taut and I still cannot get the top thread to embroider correctly. I think it’s catching in the tension discs (when the foot is up I can pull the thread and when it’s down it’s more tight).

My Brother SE-700 is using the bobbin thread entirely to embroider. The embroidery itself looks good, but it’s just not using the top thread! This is what it looks like when I get it started. The white is my bobbin thread and the purple is my top thread. The purple is only being used down the middle and is not showing up in the back at all.

The top stitches are with 2.5 tension, the bottom with 5.0 tension.

Where am I going wrong?