Crafts Articles

Cheat Sheet / Updated 04-28-2022

You can read and understand knitting patterns easily when you're familiar with common knitting terms and abbreviations. When the knitting patterns use metric measurements, you'll need to know some simple conversion formulas. Keep charts handy of your body measurements and yardage estimates of commonly knitted items so that you're ready to start a knitting project at anytime.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 03-25-2022

You're never too old or too young to discover crochet. The skills you master, the benefits you receive, and the beautiful heirlooms you create can last a lifetime and be passed on to future generations. To get started with crocheting, you need to decode crochet symbols and abbreviations so you can follow patterns with ease, and you need to find out what gauge is (and why it's so important).

Cheat Sheet / Updated 03-17-2022

Quilting results in pieces prized for both usefulness and beauty. The long history of quilting offers ages-old tips, and modern technology throws in some shortcuts, if you want to take them. But the lingo hasn’t changed very much and tips for choosing quilting fabric remain practical as well as creative. Knowing how to apply common fabric yardages to quilting is useful, and so is having a list of all the materials that go into a finished quilt.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 03-17-2022

Woodworking brings together nature, human, and technology to produce long lasting pieces of function and art. A great piece of woodworking begins with knowing how to choose the right type and piece of wood. Then, following a step-by-step process helps you craft a successful piece every time.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 02-24-2022

Knitting is a popular craft that can result in functional and decorative art. To get to the point where you're knitting useful garments, you need to know some knitting terms and their abbreviations. You may have to put your math skills to work as well, converting inches to centimeters or vice versa.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 02-17-2022

If you want to make your own candles and soaps, you need shopping lists for the basic ingredients for both. Get to know the types of candles you can make: tapers, pillars, or votives — the varieties abound. And when you make soaps, you'll want to know how to fix common problems that affect the appearance and what causes them.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 02-15-2022

Before you begin making jewelry or beading projects, gather some basic tools and supplies and become familiar with recommended lengths for necklaces, bracelets, and more. Consider how to personalize your bead work by using birthstones (precious or semiprecious) or their crystal equivalents. And when you need help — with design inspiration, supply sources, or technique — take advantage of the rich online resources created by other jewelry-making fans.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 02-15-2022

When you first get started knitting and crocheting, it can feel like you’re immersing yourself into a foreign land with its own language, symbols, and culture. But with this cheat sheet, you’ll feel like a native in no time. In it you’ll find lists of the abbreviations and symbols you’ll see most often while reading patterns and instructions.

Step by Step / Updated 11-09-2021

Making flat, tailored ribbon bows is quick and easy. A tailored ribbon bow lends a clean, modern edge to gift wrapping; and because it's flat, this bow is ideal for gifts that will be shipped or stacked.

Article / Updated 11-04-2021

When shopping, you may find the fabric you’re looking for...and a whole lot more to inspire you. When you don’t have a particular pattern in mind but find fabric that would, for example, make a great pair of dress pants, you can use this guide to help you buy enough fabric when the creative mood strikes. Because fabric also comes in several widths, and your pattern envelope may only give you yardage requirements for two widths, you can refer to this guide to buy the correct amount for the width of the fabric. This project chart gives you a quick reference and approximate yardage requirements for Misses sizes 10 to 14 at an average height of 5 foot 4 inches. Other sizes will vary from 1/4 to 1/8 yard. For fabrics with a nap and/or one-way designs, add 1/4 yard for each yard specified. For plaids, add the length of one plaid repeat for each yard specified. Garment Fabric Width 35-36 inches Fabric Width 44-45 inches Fabric Width 50 inches Fabric Width 52-54 inches Fabric Width 58-60 inches Pants, full length (add 1/4 yard for cuffs) 3-1/4 yards 2-5/8 yards 2-5/8 yards 2-1/4 yards 2-1/4 yards Pants, capri length 2-3/4 yards 2-1/4 yards 2-1/8 yards 2 yards 1-1/2 yards Shorts, bermuda length 2-1/2 yards 2-1/8 yards 1-7/8 yards 1-3/4 yards 1-1/4 yards Skirt, straight 2 yards 1-5/8 yards 1-1/2 yards 1-3/8 yards 1-1/4 yards Skirt, A-line 2-1/4 yards 1-3/4 yards 1-5/8 yards 1-1/2 yards 1-3/8 yards Skirt, softly gathered 2-1/4 yards 1-3/4 yards 1-5/8 yards 1-1/2 yards 1-3/8 yards Shirt/blouse, short sleeves 2 yards 1-5/8 yards 1-1/2 yards 1-3/8 yards 1-1/4 yards Shirt/blouse, long sleeves 2-1/2 yards 2-1/8 yards 1-3/4 yards 1-3/4 yards 1-5/8 yards Blouse, long sleeves with tie 3-3/4 yards 2-7/8 yards 2-5/8 yards 2-3/8 yards 2-1/4 yards Blouse, capped sleeves 2 yards 1-5/8 yards 1-1/2 yards 1-3/8 yards 1-1/4 yards Camisole, bias cut 1-1/3 yards 1-1/3 yards 1-1/4 yards 1-1/8 yards 1 yard Dress, short sleeves with straight skirt 4-1/4 yards 3-1/8 yards 2-3/4 yards 2-5/8 yards 2-3/8 yards Dress, long sleeves with straight skirt 5 yards 3-5/8 yards 3-1/4 yards 3-1/8 yards 3 yards