DIY & Crafts Guides

DIY & Crafts Guides

• How to Fix a Zipper You can often fix a stuck or broken zipper at home. You need basic tools and a little patience. That saves you from replacing a garment that is otherwise good. 15 minIntermediateDIY & Crafts
• How to Tie a Strangle Knot The strangle knot holds something round shut. Use it on the neck of a sack, a rolled-up mat, or a bundle of poles. It is two turns and a tuck. It lies flat instead of bunching up. The tighter you pull it, the harder it bites. 5 minBeginnerDIY & Crafts
• How to Cross-Stitch a Simple Pattern Cross-stitch turns a simple grid of Xs into a finished design. It is one of the easiest crafts to learn. All you need is fabric, floss, and a little patience while you find your rhythm. 1-2 hoursBeginnerDIY & Crafts
• How to Tie a Bowline Knot The bowline makes a fixed loop at the end of a rope. The loop keeps its size under load, and the knot is still easy to untie afterwards. This guide covers how it is tied. 5 minBeginnerDIY & Crafts
• How to Tie a Stopper Knot A stopper knot is a small knot you tie in the end of a rope. It stops the end slipping through a hole, a block, a device, or another knot. The figure-eight is the knot most people mean by a stopper. It is quick to tie, easy to recognise, and good enough for everyday jobs. This guide shows you how to tie one. Then it shows you how to check that it works. 5 minBeginnerDIY & Crafts
• How to Frame a Finished Cross Stitch Piece Framing your own finished cross stitch gives you control over how the piece is mounted and protected. The results can rival professional framing. The key is stretching the fabric evenly over a board. You must also keep the glass off the stitches. 1-2 hoursIntermediateDIY & Crafts
• How to Read a Cross Stitch Chart A cross stitch chart is the map for your whole project. Once you can read one, the stitching itself becomes easy. This guide explains what the grid, the symbols and the markings mean. It also shows you how to place your first stitch in the right spot. 10-15 minBeginnerNeedlework
• How to Tie a Constrictor Knot The constrictor knot is a binding knot that grips hard and is meant not to let go. On very slick line or a polished surface it can slip rather than bind. This guide shows you two ways to tie it, plus how to release it when the job is done. 5 minIntermediateDIY & Crafts
• How to Read a Tape Measure A tape measure tells you more than whole inches, once you know how to read it. This guide covers the sliding hook and the small lines along the blade. 5 minBeginnerDIY & Crafts
• How to Tie a Double Overhand Stopper Knot The Double Overhand is a stopper knot tied in the end of a rope. It is a plain overhand knot with one extra turn, and that extra turn is what gives it its bulk. 5 minBeginnerDIY & Crafts
• How to Tie a Chain Sinnet The chain sinnet is a quick way to gather a long rope or cable into a short, tidy chain that will not tangle. It takes seconds to make, and one pull takes it all out again. 5 minBeginnerDIY & Crafts
• How to Find the Center of a Circle with a Compass A drawn curve carries no mark where its center is, and often you cannot measure to it. This is the way the old drawing offices found it, with a compass, a straightedge and seven moves. 10 minIntermediateDIY & Crafts
• How to Draw Radius Lines on an Arc Without Its Center An arch, a fan or a curved rail needs lines that all point at the middle. When the middle is off the wall or out in the yard, you can still strike every one of them with a compass and a straightedge alone. 15 minIntermediateDIY & Crafts
• How to Point a Rope End A whipped rope end is blunt and often too fat to pass through the block it has to reeve through. Pointing tapers the end instead, and covers the taper in a woven sleeve made from the rope's own yarns. Sailors did it as a matter of course and almost nobody writes it down now. 1 hourAdvancedDIY & Crafts