How-ToTips & Tricks
The Yarnspirations How To hub is your one-stop shop for all you need to know to pick up a new skill or level up the skills you already have. With a library full of videos, tutorials, pictorials, diagrams and tips & tricks, you're sure to find something to help you get creating.
Helpful Learning Categories
Want to take up knitting? Know how to crochet but would like to learn a new technique? Need a refresher on an embroidery stitch? Our learning categories will help you gain the knowledge you need no matter what your crafting goals are.
Color-Coded Skill Types
Our How To hub is full of information on a number of different crafts. Thanks to our color-coded organization system, it's easy to find your skill type at a glance. And with six needlework types, you're sure to find your favorite fiber craft here.
Additional Info At Your Fingertips
Over the years, our team of experts have learned a lot of shortcuts, timesavers and project-saving lessons. Look for the 'Tips' icon for their clever advice and ingenious tricks. Bolded words contain helpful popovers full of definitions where you need them (just click on them to open).
Handy Illustrations, Images and Videos
There are many different types of learning techniques. Whether you're the visual type or the reading kind, our How To section has the instruction style for you. We’ve included written instructions as well as pictures, illustrations, step-by-step videos and pattern tutorials.
Tight Knit Community of Learners
Learning is so much more fun when you do it with other passionate people. Visit our comment section to ask questions, share lessons learned and get support from our welcoming community of talented crafters and creators.
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Selvage Surprises
Selvages are those colorful finished edges you find on woven fabrics—a curiosity to some, and a source of inspiration to others. As sewers, we often hate to waste any little bit of fabric, and saved selvages can become the beginning of some fun projects.
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New to Machine Embroidery? Tips for Success
Here are some of our tips and tricks for how to embroider with a machine!
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Organize with Embroidered Labels
We love letters that help us keep our stuff organized. For our sewing studio at Coats & Clark we asked expert Rebecca Brent to create embroidered labels.
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How To Use Candy or Food Wrappers as Fabric
Whether you’re making our Sweet Satchel or another fun tote, working with fun food or candy wrappers is a great way to recycle these colorful normally throw-away pieces.
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Master the Perfect Quarter Inch Seam
“Stitch with a quarter inch seam.” Sounds simple doesn’t it? So, why are we often sobbing at the sewing machine while piecing our blocks? Beginners, if you’ve found yourself throwing your mis-shapen blocks across the room, this may fix your problems!
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Freeform Crochet Tips for Beginners
Freeform crochet is a wonderful expression of your own creativity achieved through fiber. It is often called "painting wit …
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Sewing with Outdoor Thread
This time of year we often get questions about what type of thread to use for sewing or repairing outdoor items like deck chairs and cushions for benches and chairs. The constant exposure to the sun, chlorine and the elements are very demanding on fabrics and threads.
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Crafting an Organized Holiday Season
Here are some tips, timelines, and free patterns to help you prep for the holidays this year!
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Changing Colors for Different Looks
Here are some great examples of how color changes can affect the look and feel of the same pattern.
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Choose Colors Like a Designer
Choosing colors is one of the most difficult decisions I have to make as a designer, and I know many of you face the same issues.Today I want to share with you how to choose colors like a designer.
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Convert a Rectangular Shawl into a Shrug by Guest Blogger Joan Barnett
I’m always hunting for a layering piece to keep me warm. So I made a beautiful rust rectangular shawl that converts into a vest, but what I really needed it to be to wear with my summer top is a shrug. Susan Bates mini knit clips to the rescue!
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The Long & Short of Hemming Jeans
Who loves to hem blue jeans? Don’t everyone raise their hand at once! With kids, the question is “to hem or not to hem?” As sure as you do, the growth spurt will hit.
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Sewing on Fleece
Fleece can be used in so many ways. It is a favorite for no-sew projects because it doesn’t ravel, but it is also simple to use for sewing projects.
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Sewing Tip- Chain Piecing
Whether you’re making multiples of the same thing for charity (like pillowcases, bags, etc.) or creating hundreds of blocks for a quilt, chain piecing is both fast and efficient. This assembly-line sewing technique is used in factories, but it can be equally at home in your sewing room.
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Show Off a Zipper with Stylish Stitching
Not all zippers are hidden—some show off their stuff with stylish stitching.
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Do the Twist with your Sewing Machine!
You know your machine can sew all kinds of stitches, but did you know it can also do the twist?
