Get inspired to create for a cause
At Community Threads, we believe in sharing knowledge and fostering a community of skilled crafters. Our tips and tricks section is designed to help you improve your knitting, crocheting, and sewing techniques. Whether you're a beginner or an experienced crafter, you'll find valuable advice and practical solutions to common crafting challenges.
General crafting tips
These are essential tips for working on your projects and staying motivated throughout the process.
Working on your project
- Put your pattern down in a plastic sheet protector and use a dry erase marker to mark off rows on the plastic. Use a binder clip to make sure the pattern is secure enough not to move a row up or down from your marks.
- Yarn is available at every meeting, or you can use your own. If you use Community Threads yarn, the yarn should be logged out on a Sign-In / Sign-Out sheet, and any completed items using Community Threads yarn should be logged in on a Sign-In / Sign-Out sheet.
- To ensure your donation is distributed to the intended group, please make sure it meets the requested size. Many times you can add a border if needed. Please see the Project Size Guidelines for each project card on the Handcrafted Items page.
Finishing your project
- Weave ends in more than an inch and trim closely.
- Please tag every item. There are tags available at every meeting, and you may take a stack home.
- If you write on the back of the item tag, please put only your first name and/or washing instructions.
- On items containing wool, please tie on the item tags using red yarn so that we can identify them. Some people are sensitive to wool.
- If you wash item(s), please do not use scented fabric softener, many are allergic.
- Remember to tie at least 2 knots when not using the magic knot to ensure it does not come undone in washing.
Making mistakes and staying motivated
- To frog, or not to frog, you decide! What’s frogging? It’s when you “rip-it” out (get it? Rip it, ribbit? Frog?) If you have a lot of attention to detail and you recognize a mistake a few rows back, it might be worth frogging it back and fixing the mistake (it will bug you forever). If it’s not a noticeable mistake, decide if you want to go back and fix it. Everyone has a different preference. Don’t feel guilty about your choice.
- Some of you may look at the list of needed items and think “I don’t know how to make that” or “My skills aren’t good enough to make one of those” or “I don’t like making those.” If that’s the case, challenge yourself to make just one of a needed item. Just one. Challenge yourself to finish it and turn it in before the next issue of the newsletter comes out. You can do it. The recipients who are waiting for these needed items will be so glad you did.
Crocheting tips and tricks
- Use a larger hook size for crochet foundation chains than what you’re using for the rest of your project. This helps prevent it from becoming too tight. Or if your foundation chain is too loose, you can correct it by going down a hook size.
- Crochet hooks that are no longer sliding smoothly along could mean that it is time to clean your hooks with a little soap & water. NOT for wood/bamboo hooks; there is a special conditioning oil for these hooks. I believe this could apply to knitting needles also.
- Weaving ends in is the bane of the crocheter’s existence. It takes a long time and is tedious. But luckily, there’s another way to keep those ends in without weaving or cutting them. After you’ve cut your yarn, hold the end of the yarn up to your current row to crochet over it until it disappears. This gets them out of the way and saves you the pain of weaving them in.
5 Hand Exercises for Knitters & Crocheters (Video)
Knitting tips and tricks
- Use circular needles even when you’re knitting flat.
- The crochet hook is a knitter’s best friend.
- Stockinette curls and it’s not your fault.
- Match the stitch to the yarn.
- Create a neat knitted edge with an easy chain slip stitch. I said “goodbye” to nubby garter stitch edges forever the minute I knit my first slipped stitch chain edge. The slipped chain creates an attractive braid-like edge along the right side.
5 Hand Exercises for Knitters & Crocheters (Video)
Sewing tips and tricks
- Put new life in your old pins by putting your pin in a bar of soap; this will help the pins glide through your fabric easier.
- Measure twice, cut once
- Practice makes perfect
- Read the instructions first
- Use a magnet to collect pins.
- Don’t force fabrice through the machine.
- Organize your sewing space.
- Clean your machine.
- Help pins “glide” by using a bar soap to hold your pins. Put dull, stubborn straight pins in a piece of bar soap to help them go through fabric much easier. Just try it!
Sewing comfort tips
Sometimes doing needlework can be a pain – quite literally! If you find yourself developing discomfort as you stitch, try these tips (Heavily paraphrased from: “The Knitting Answer Book” by Margaret Radcliffe, 2015):
- Sit up tall! It’s easy to start hunching over your work. Remember to check your posture as you stitch.
- Break it up! Take frequent rest breaks as you work, getting up to move around and stretch.
- Work it out! Exercise to build strength in your arms and shoulders, and stretch daily to keep your body limber.
- Change it up! Alternate between various projects, needle sizes, and difficulty levels.
- Check it out! You may be holding your work in an awkward position if you’re unable to see it well due to poor eyesight or lighting.
- Listen up! If your body is telling you it hurts, step away from the needles! See your doctor if pain persists.
