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  Happy Okapi

Free Sewing Apps

7/19/2017

7 Comments

 
I use my phone for so many things!  My phone changes the way I shop, navigate, discover information, and yes, even how I sew. So today, I thought I'd share some of the apps I use for sewing, and a few I don't! These apps are all available for iPhones, and I believe many of them are available for Androids as well. All of them are free, but some of them have In-App purchases, so just be sure to check.
Free Sewing Apps

Learning Apps

Craftsy

I don't have a computer in my sewing room, so when I watch my Craftsy classes, it's often on my phone, or sometimes on my iPad (Craftsy app is available for iPad as well). The app isn't identical to the website, in that it's very mobile friendly, and you can even download lessons to watch. I love that feature the most, especially if I'm travelling and know I'll have long waits somewhere, possibly without reception or wifi. You can also just stream the classes as you like.
Craftsy class
Screenshot of Elizabeth Hartman's Craftsy class, Patchwork Piecing: Woodland Animals.
Navigating Craftsy's Mobile App
Craftsy's mobile app


Creativebug

In case you're not familiar with Creativebug, you can check it out with a free trial. One monthly fee offers unlimited access to their classes on a huge variety of subjects. Creativebug is where I learned to paper piece, watching Carolyn Friedlander's class. You can also learn to decorate cookies, make jewellery, crochet, knit, and so much more! From the mobile app, you can access the entire class library, bookmark your favourite classes, and download lessons.

Quilt Tutorials

This app is put out by Missouri Star Quilt Co. and is loaded with free quilting tutorials. From this app, you can watch videos going over many techniques and learn new blocks. There's also a search function, so if you're looking for a particular skill, just enter it in.
Quilt Tutorials app by Missouri Star Quilt Co.

Tools

Quiltler

You can have a lot of fun with this app! It allows you to easily design your own quilt or quilt block, with squares or triangles and more. You can add multiple colours and create a random assortment and change it any way you like. It's quite powerful, especially considering it's free.
Quiltler mobile app

QuiltingCalc

This app, offered by Robert Kaufman Fabrics and Quilter's Paradise is the only calculator you'll need when making a quilt: never be too short again! Whether you're trying to find out how much fabric you need for your quilt backing, or how much for your binding, this app does the calculations for you. As an inexperienced quilter, I really appreciate that there's something I can use to reduce the chance of measuring wrong.


Camera 360

Ok, so this one isn't really a sewing app, but I use it for many of my sewing pictures. There are a lot of photo editing apps out there, and I'll admit I haven't tried too many, but I find this one quite simple to use, and it's free so I've stuck with it. Once you've sewn up a project, you want to share it in the best light and sometimes that needs a bit of editing. I almost always use the crop feature, and adding text is really easy. There are several features included in the free version and apparently more with the paid version, although I've never found the need to upgrade.
Camera 360 mobile app
Camera 360 mobile app

Sheets

This one is also not technically a sewing app, but I use it for the swaps and blog tours I sign up for and can use it to keep me organized. Sheets is an app from Google and it's a spreadsheet that works with Excel; use it to create and edit spreadsheets and collaborate with others. Maybe you want to keep track of your fabric purchases, or what pattern requirements are: now you can access all your data right from your phone.

Simplicity

I downloaded this app so I could keep track of my fabric. There's a feature that's meant to keep track of your fabric, but I found it time consuming and cumbersome, so I'm going back to my old method of just shoving it randomly in my closet and then doing a mad search when I'm looking for something. The app does have basic sewing tips, which might be helpful, and lists all the patterns which you can search for by feature, but honestly, I don't really find this to be useful for me.

woven-pear-socks

Fabric Stash

This one is another app to help keep track of your fabrics. The premise is that you take a picture of the fabric, then add which colour schemes, designer, or themes are in the fabric and how much of it you have and the type of fabric. Once you've added that to your "stash" then you can search the stash by those features and keep a running inventory. In theory this sounds awesome, but I'm just not good at that sort of upkeep, so it doesn't really work for me.

iBooks

iBooks is the app I use to view my PDF patterns on my phone or iPad. I love that I can create collections to sort by. I have mine set up under pattern designer, but I also have separate collections for clothing and quilting. If storage on the device is a concern, you can always delete each pattern and reload as you need them (as long as you have them stored somewhere else). I also love that when I'm out fabric shopping, I can just pull up the pattern instantly to check for fabric requirements.
iBooks sores PDF sewing patterns

Inspiration

Pinterest

Pinterest is really what got me into sewing. So much inspiration,  and tons of ideas and tutorials. 

Instagram

I confess I spend more time than I should scrolling Instagram, but it's because the makers out there are just so incredible, and I'm constantly inspired to do more and more! I love discovering new fabric lines, patterns and trends on Instagram.

One more for the day! Here are my @cpeicheff #minislimlinewallet for the #inthebag Canada 150 tour. The #castelldaybag pattern from @emmalinebags opens nice and wide. I made the wallets and bag in @libselliott fabric. Join me and some other great bloggers for our celebration and enter to win some great prizes too. Check link in profile or happyokapi.ca □□ ❤️ . . . . . #emmalinehardware #emmalinepatterns #emmalinebags #bagineer #bagmaker #isewbags #isew #canadianblogger #canadianmade #madeincanada #canada150 #tattooedfabric #truelovefabric #libselliott #handmadewithlove

A post shared by Reece Montgomery (@reecemontgomery) on Jun 8, 2017 at 7:20pm PDT


Do you use your phone for sewing too? What are your favourite sewing apps? 
7 Comments
Michelle link
7/18/2017 07:06:44 am

Reece, what a great post! I didn't know about a lot of these apps, so thank you for sharing them.

Reply
Janelle MacKay
8/3/2017 10:55:50 am

Great post, Reece!

Reply
Remy link
11/29/2017 04:00:19 am

Checkout ! the isewme iPhone App for keeping track of patterns, projects, stock & measurements :)

Reply
Reece link
11/29/2017 06:18:21 pm

I'll have to check it out, thanks for the suggestion!

Reply
Danielle Pientka link
6/12/2018 11:40:09 am

We just released an app called Sew Organized in May 2018. :) It's free and it's on Android and IOS. Because the data you input is on the cloud, you can access your information from any device when you login with your account. Would you be willing to add it to your list? :) -Danielle

Reply
Joyce A Allen
6/13/2018 04:12:12 pm

Hi! Does anyone know if there is an app where I can scan in my pattern and potential materials and be able to choose which material style I want to use for the pattern. That way I can decide whether my choices would look good - or not - without having to sew the garment.

Thanks. Joyce

Reply
Chris
8/5/2018 08:01:22 am

Hi! Great post - I am actually the creator of the app Quiltler and have recently updated it to work much better! Give it a try if you want :)

Reply



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    Hi! I'm Reece and I love to sew! I'm also a mom and a wife. I love being crafty and sharing tips.

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