Category Archives: Sewing

Ever wondered how to prevent knots in thread while stitching?  Sometimes when you stitch or sew, you may find that you end up with an unwanted knot in your thread. How did it get there?

Sometimes it is a mystery, but there are a couple of things you can do to prevent (stop) it from happening.  Here are our tips to help make your stitching or sewing easier:

1.  Use Shorter Lengths of Thread

The longer the thread, the more likely it is to tangle and knot. We suggest that you cut the thread so that it is 50cm (20 inches) long or less, before you thread your needle.

Sometimes you may need to use longer threads than this, and if you do, make the tail that goes through the needle longer.  After you have done some stitching and start catching up to the tail, you can make the tail shorter.

2.  Untwist the Thread Regularly

After you have stitched or sewn a number of stitches, the thread will usually start twisting, which is a common cause of knots. To untwist your thread, hold the fabric in the air and let the thread and needle hang from the fabric, then you will see it quickly untwisting.

Once it has stopped twisting, you can continue on stitching. It is a good idea to do this frequently (often) to prevent knots.

We hope these tips help you have less knots and tangles in your thread.  Let us know how you go!

You may have found a great stitching pattern in our magazine, or elsewhere, and you would like to stitch it.

But how do you get the pattern or the design onto the fabric?

In this How To? we show you how to trace a pattern on lightly coloured fabric.  It’s really an easy thing to do once you know how!

Diagrams and instructions easy enough for children to follow can be found by clicking the button below.

Happy stitching!

Have you ever picked up a needle and thread, ready to sew, only to find that you don’t quite now how to start off sewing or stitching with the thread?

The children at Imagine. Make. Believe have all been in that situation at least once, so we thought we’d share with you our free tutorial for two different ways that you can start a thread, one with a knot, and one with a tail.

We have full instructions and diagrams easy enough for children to follow, so we hope this will help you get started with your sewing!  Click on the button below for all the details.

Happy stitching!

Ever wondered how to use stranded cotton, embroidery floss, stranded thread, embroidery thread, or whatever you like to call it?  Have you tried to pull out strands of thread and then created an awful mess, with knots and tangles that are dreadful to undo?  If you are anything like us, you probably have!  Or maybe this is your first time to use stranded cotton, and you are not quite sure what to do?

Stranded Cotton

In this free tutorial, we show you how to simply and easily separate the strands of stranded cotton, without the time-wasting tangles. We have full instructions and diagrams easy enough for children to follow.  Just click the button below.

Not sure how many strands of thread to use?

If you are following a pattern, the instructions will usually tell you how many strands you will need.  If there are none, we have put together this handy guide to help you decide.

Just remember though, there are no ‘rules’, so if you prefer to use more or less, that’s up to you.

If you want to know how to thread a needle, have a look at our How To Thread a Needle post.

We hope this helps you with your stitching.  Let us know how you go by commenting below!

Have you ever wondered how to easily tie a knot in thread?  Do you find it difficult to tie the knot in the end of the thread, rather than half way down? Maybe this is the first time you have ever tied a knot?

If so, we have a great tutorial on how to tie a knot, exactly where you would like it… on the end!

With full instructions and diagrams suitable for children to follow, we hope this sometimes tricky task, becomes an easy one.  Just click on the button below!

Happy knotting!

Been having trouble threading your needle?

Its a tricky thing, especially if your eye-sight is not so great, or if you find it difficult to keep your hands still.

Or maybe you have never threaded one before, and are trying to find the easiest or best way to thread a needle?

If so, you have come to the right place!

We have full instructions and diagrams which are easy enough for a child to follow, so click the How to Thread a Needle button below to find out how.  We also include some tips to help you before you get started.

Let us know how it goes!