Don’t laugh. This printable in our Cheat Card series is based on one of our most popular articles. Really! If you’ve been sewing forever, and work with fractions every day, it may seem crazy to you that someone wouldn’t know how to read a measuring tape. But if you step back for a moment, and look at that tape measure (or ruler for that matter) with the eyes of a new sewer, all those little unidentified marks might seem a bit intimidating. As one of our original commenters said, “Thank you so much for sharing this. I am definitely the kind of person who was too scared to ask a dumb question! You’ve made my life so much easier!”
There are two measuring charts below: one shows an eighth inch breakdown and the other goes all the way down to sixteenths. Each chart is available in three different backgrounds.
Our Measuring Tape Cheat Card is the size of a standard business card: 2” wide x 3½” high. It’s small enough to tuck into your wallet or tack up on the bulletin board in your sewing room.
All six designs print out on one 8½” x 11” sheet of paper from which you can cut out the cards. You may want to print on a heavier card stock (80 to 100lb cover is a good option) or print on regular paper then glue that lighter weight sheet to a stiff backing material prior to cutting. There are crop marks on each card to help you get a perfect slice.
This is the second installment in our Cheat Card series. You may also want to print out the Yardage Conversion Cheat Cards, Sewing Machine Needles Cheat Card, Basic Shapes #1 Cheat Card: The Circle, Basic Shapes #2 Cheat Card: Common Straight Line Shapes, and Basic Shapes #3 Cheat Card: Common Angles. These five sets of cards are set-up on the same variety of backgrounds. Pick your favorite design and build a set, or cut them all out to share.
IF YOU’D PREFER TO HAVE JUST ONE PAGE WITH ALL SIX CARDS, WE OFFER THAT FOR JUST $1.99 IN OUR ETSY SHOP. CLICK HERE TO JUMP TO ETSY.
Is there a cheat or hack you’d like to have as a handy card? Leave us a comment below and we’ll add it to our list.
The Measuring Tape Cheat Card is available here as a .PDF file. Click the image below to download. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is a free program. We’ve minimized the file size, but still, please be patient with the download process.
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Nothing shows when I open it.
Nothing shows when I open it. I’ve sucessfully pulled up the other chet sheets, but this one is blank.
@Heather – As mentioned below @Heather – As mentioned below, the file is delivering correcly on this end, and as one of our earlier Cheat Cards, it’s been successfully downloaded hundreds of time. We’ve minimized the file size, but please be patient with the download process. In addition, make sure you have the latest version of Acrobat Reader, and the latest version of your printer driver. Adobe does always recommend a re-start of your computer with any update. You can also try the Print as Image option in your printer’s browser window. This option is often under the Advanced tab. You can also save the downloaded PDF to your… Read more »
I can’t print these, either.
I can’t print these, either. I get an Acrobat error message that just says “the file could not be printed”. I’m using Firefox on a PC. Any ideas?
@Kathy – Everything is @Kathy – Everything is delivering correcly on this end, and as one of our earlier Cheat Cards, it’s been successfully downloaded hundreds of time. We’ve minimized the file size, but please be patient with the download process. In addition, make sure you have the latest version of Acrobat Reader, and the latest version of your printer driver. Adobe does always recommend a re-start of your computer with any update. You can also try the Print as Image option in your printer’s browser window. This option is often under the Advanced tab. You can also save the downloaded PDF to your computer and print from… Read more »
I find that if I right click,
I find that if I right click, then chose either print or save it opens. I often do not have luck by just clicking a downloadable file.
Hope this helps.
Sorry, I forgot to say that I
Sorry, I forgot to say that I first use the option to open in a new tab!
It will not let me print the
It will not let me print the Measuring Tape Cheat Card or the Yardage Conversion Cheat Card! Totally bummed.
The only one I could print was the Sewing Machine Needles Cheat Card.
@Michelle – Don’t take it @Michelle – Don’t take it personally. Everything is delivering correctly from our end. The fact that you could print one, does mean that the server is responding to your requests. Make sure you have the latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader. On some systems, there is also an option in your print window (might be under either the general or advanced tab) that must be clicked: “print as image”. You can also try saving the file first to your computer and then opening to print. It is a larger file – thanks to all those… Read more »
I’m sending these up the Pine
I’m sending these up the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation . I belong to a group called Sew For Kids Volunteers. They can use these with sewing machines and books and supplies we send up there.Thanks
I want to copy an older
I want to copy an older batiste blouse with narrow pleats. How do I order your cheat sheet. Do books on French sewing have instructions for narrow pleats? I can’t find any on your site. I’m new to your site.
Virginia
@Virginia – Welcome to the
@Virginia – Welcome to the site! Regarding the Cheat Card – you do not need to order it. It is set up as a free download to print yourself. All the instructions are given above for how to do this. In regards to the pleats, I’ve added links below to our Knife Pleats and Heirloom Sewing tutorials, which will provide you with some good information. We don’t really have any specific information on French sewing books. That would probably be something you’d want to research online.
https://sew4home.com/tips-resources/sewing-tips-tricks/basic-heirloom-stitching-using-your-sewing-machine
https://sew4home.com/tips-resources/sewing-tips-tricks/how-make-knife-pleats
Love this cheater card series
Love this cheater card series! And you’ve made them so pretty too! I’m looking forward to others.
I know all of the
I know all of the measurements, but very good for people who do not. And it’s cute!
@ Meg – Thank you!
@ Meg – Thank you!
This is a good idea but I was
This is a good idea but I was expecting it to be to scale…Then you could put it under the presser foot to measure your stitch width.
@Betty Anne – thanks! The
@Betty Anne – thanks! The goal of this Cheat Card is for identification, so we needed to make it larger than life in order to be sure the measurements could be clearly visualized. Your idea of something that could be used similarly to a seam guage is an interesting one. We’ll put it on our You Asked 4 It list.
Thank you!!! I love the
Thank you!!! I love the Yardge Conversion Card and look forward to adding this one, too! So cute and useful!
@Sally – You are welcome. We
@Sally – You are welcome. We’re having fun coming up with these handy tools.
i would also like a cheat
i would also like a cheat card for the metric system. I skip making things when only those measurements are given, because it takes so long to look up every one. Thank you
@Sandee – We could get
@Sandee – We could get everything to fit on this round of cards, but if you check out the original article on which these cards are based, there is inches to metric conversion chart.
https://sew4home.com/tips-resources/sewing-tips-tricks/deciphering-marks-measuring-tape
What a great idea , I could
What a great idea , I could never understand the markings on a measuring tape , I always asked my son where is 7/8 of an inch etc on the tape , and I was still confused.Now I can see it for myself ,thank you
@Carolynanne – we’re glad to
@Carolynanne – we’re glad to help you figure it out.
If you had just added the
If you had just added the decimals to the fractions, this card would have been SO much more useful and way prettier than the post-it on my wall!
@kathntn – sorry you have to
@kathntn – sorry you have to rely on your post it
What a great idea. Thanks so
What a great idea. Thanks so much for sharing.
@MDy – You’re welcome! It’s
@MDy – You’re welcome! It’s always nice to have some little handy helpers.
Thanks so much for this. Can
Thanks so much for this. Can you now please do it in metric for your Canadian and European and Australian ( pretty much everywhere else in the world) followers?? thx
Thank you for the Cheat
Thank you for the Cheat Sheets…I used the Yardage set as Gift Tags for a sewing friend…She just loved them….
@Lori – You’re welcome – they
@Lori – You’re welcome – they are design to be handy — and loved
YAAAAY! THANK YOU. Love
YAAAAY! THANK YOU. Love these very much. Printing now.
@Annie – You are very welcome
@Annie – You are very welcome!
Already printed and firing up
Already printed and firing up my laminator as I type. I use the conversion chart quite a bit, so I’m sure this will come in just as handy. Fits perfectly in my purse. Thanks again, Sew4Home, for another great tool!
@DebS – Cheatin’ away!
@DebS – Cheatin’ away!
Thank you!
Thank you!
I can’t print the page. I’ve
I can’t print the page. I’ve even saved it to a file and tried to print and get an error everytime. Any suggestions?
K
@ Kay – make sure you have @ Kay – make sure you have the latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader. On some systems, there is also an option in your print window (might be under either the general or advanced tab) that must be clicked: “print as image”. You can also try saving the file first to your computer and then opening to print. It is a larger file – thanks to all those lovely colors – so the spooling to your printer might take a few minutes. On some systems, it might even take a couple minutes for… Read more »
Thank you so much! My son is
Thank you so much! My son is learning measurements in school and I was trying to show him what each of the lines represents but I could tell it wasn’t making sense to him. I should have thought about something like this. Perfect!
It’s a great place to start
It’s a great place to start and we always hear from so many people who have been, “afraid to ask.”