For the sewing room
Free calculators and honest advice for your sewing room.
Quilt, yarn, knitting and cross-stitch calculators, plus honest advice for your craft room and knit and crochet home decor, written for people who make things at home and want a straight answer.
What do you want to work out?
- How much fabric do I need for my quilt?Backing, binding and batting in one shopping list.
- How much backing fabric do I need?For regular 42-inch fabric or 108-inch wide backing.
- How many binding strips should I cut?The strips to cut and the fabric to buy for the edge.
- How much yarn do I need for a blanket?How many skeins to buy, by blanket size and yarn thickness.
- How many stitches should I cast on?Worked out from your test swatch, for hats, sweaters and more.
- How much fabric do I need for cross stitch?The fabric size for your pattern, plus thread for each color.
New and recently checked
Craft Room Storage Ideas: 20 Ways to Store Fabric, Yarn & Thread
Twenty storage ideas for a craft room or sewing corner, each with one rule that keeps your stash from fading, molding or feeding moths.
Fabric Storage Ideas: How to Store Fat Quarters, Scraps, Yardage and Precuts
A fat quarter, a bag of scraps and four yards of backing need different homes. Sort by piece size first, then pick the container, the fold and the label.
Sewing Room Ideas: Layout, Small Spaces & Setup Checklist
Plan the room in four zones, set four numbers right, and pick furniture, light and storage from our craft room guides.
Crochet Home Decor: 16 Free Patterns for Lampshades, Pillows & Poufs
Sixteen free patterns with real yarn amounts, a sizing method for any lampshade, and the bulb and fiber facts that keep crochet decor safe.
Crochet Plant Pot Cover: How to Measure, Choose Yarn and Estimate Yardage
Measure the pot you have, pick a pattern that matches its shape, swatch, then estimate yarn. A cover is décor — the plant still needs drainage.
How we decide what to recommend
Specs first
Seat heights, lux ratings, table heights: from the maker’s own manuals and spec sheets.
Owners second
Long-term reports from people who use the thing every week, in forums and reviews.
Dated and sourced
Every guide shows when we last checked it and which sources it rests on.
No paid placement
No paid links or ads today. If that changes, paid links will be labeled and will never decide what we recommend or in which order.