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| Decision field | Open accessHandweavers Guild of America ResourcesGlobalRemove | Free + paidThreadloop Sewing Pattern DatabaseGlobalRemove | Open accessYarnSubGlobalRemove | Free + paidHandweaving.net Draft ArchiveGlobalRemove |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Decision fit | ||||
| Primary job | Learn techniques | Find patterns & fit | Choose materials | Learn techniques |
| Also useful for | No additional job recorded | No additional job recorded | No additional job recorded | No additional job recorded |
| Area | Techniques & repair | Patterns & fit | Yarn | Techniques & repair |
| Best for | Finding a weaving, spinning, or dyeing community | Searching current and out-of-print sewing patterns | Building a substitution shortlist for a discontinued or unavailable yarn before checking quantity, availability, and a representative swatch | Researching loom-ready weaving structures and drafts |
| Know before using | Coverage reflects affiliated guilds, submitted events, and participating professionals rather than every regional option. HGA states that its paid professional listings are supplied and updated by the professional and are not HGA endorsements. Confirm current contact details, teaching format, accessibility, price, skill level, and safeguarding or insurance needs directly. | Community members add and quality-control the records, so confirm sizing, measurements, fabric suggestions, format, availability, errata, license, and purchase terms with the designer or publisher. Adding an entry to a stash does not provide the pattern files. Saved searches and private PDF storage are paid Plus features, and a listing or review does not establish pattern accuracy or fit. | A suggested match is a data-based shortlist, not proof that the yarn suits the pattern or maker. Records can be incomplete or wrong, price bands are approximate, availability varies by country and seller, and shade-level matching is unavailable. YarnSub says affiliate status does not change suggestions, but equally rated matches are ordered by brand popularity. Confirm required gauge, total length, fibre behavior, construction, care, colour, dye lot, accessibility, price, availability, and seller terms, then make and assess a representative swatch before committing. | A visible drawdown is not automatically a complete, corrected, rights-cleared, or loom-compatible project plan. Full draft data and advanced tools require a renewing subscription, and historical sources can contain errors or unclear provenance. Check shafts, treadles, tie-up, sett, yarn, floats, repeats, copyright status, and WIF compatibility before committing a warp. |
| Practical access | ||||
| For | Makers | Makers | Makers | Makers |
| Location or jurisdiction | Global | Global | Global | Global |
| Access | Open access | Free + paid | Open access | Free + paid |
| Format | Directory | Community | Reference | Reference |
| Source type | Industry organization | Community database | First-party platform | First-party platform |
| Account, payment, and exit | ||||
| Access scope | Not yet reviewed at this level. | Sewer searching pattern records or organizing patterns, projects, fabric, notions, and private files. | Maker comparing a replacement for a named yarn before buying. | Weaver deciding whether viewing a draft is enough or a working WIF file and editing tools are required. |
| Before an account | Not yet reviewed at this level. | Browse the pattern database, guide, designers, publications, and public community areas without creating an account. | Search a named yarn, inspect suggested substitutes, and filter by fibre and approximate price band without creating an account. | Browse the Ralph Griswold archive, download archive documents, and view draft drawdowns without a paid subscription. |
| Free-account boundary | Not yet reviewed at this level. | A free account needs no card and supports a stash, wishlist, projects, reviews, and personal organization. | The checked core substitution route does not require an account, and the FAQ does not offer user-entered yarn records. | A free basic account adds clipboards. Full drafts, working files, and browser drafting tools remain outside the free account. |
| Payment boundary | Not yet reviewed at this level. | Plus adds PDF pattern storage, collections, saved searches, bulk editing, and other workflow features on monthly or annual billing. | No subscription is presented for the core route. Affiliate retailer links and optional donations help fund the site; equal-rated matches are ordered by brand popularity. | A monthly or annual recurring subscription unlocks full drafts, WIF downloads, and browser drafting and editing tools. |
| Cancellation or exit | Not yet reviewed at this level. | Cancel through an in-account link. Paid features remain through the current billing cycle, then the account returns to free features. | There is no account or recurring plan to cancel for the core route. The newsletter has a separate unsubscribe link. | Cancel from the account page. Renewal stops at the next renewal date, paid access remains until then, and the provider states that refunds are not given. |
| Saved work and data | Not yet reviewed at this level. | The terms say submitted materials remain yours, but the checked public pages do not explain a full export or how stored PDFs behave after downgrade. Keep originals outside the platform. | YarnSub does not expose an API and does not accept user-entered yarn details. Use the data-issue link on a yarn page for corrections. | The checked page does not explain bulk export or deletion for clipboards or contributed drafts. Retain local copies of WIF files and source material before exit. |
| Source and review | ||||
| What the source establishes | The Handweavers Guild of America's current resources page links a searchable affiliate-guild directory, a paid professional-member directory and fiber-art resource guide, book reviews, a public event calendar, scholarships, a quarterly member magazine, and program and store information for weaving, spinning, dyeing, and related fiber arts. | Threadloop's official guide describes an independent, fully crowdsourced database covering available and out-of-print sewing patterns. Its search supports pattern type, fabric type, age group, body type, cup size, level, format, file features, language, measurements, availability, and other filters; members can also track a stash, wishlist, projects, reviews, and discussions. Current terms state that the free plan requires no card, paid upgrades start billing immediately, cancellation retains paid features through the current cycle, and the account then returns to free features. | YarnSub's official FAQ says its matching software compares gauge, texture, yarn weight and density, fibre content, and fibre qualities such as drape and softness. Discontinued yarns remain searchable as starting points but are excluded from suggestions. Result filters can exclude animal, animal-derived, synthetic, or plant fibre groups and use a subjective $ to $$$$$ price indicator. The site does not accept user-entered yarn details, individual shade cards, or expose an API. Each yarn page provides a data-issue route. | Handweaving.net currently exposes the Ralph Griswold digital archive, document downloads, draft drawdown views, basic-account clipboards, and video tutorials without a paid subscription. Its subscription page reserves full drafts, WIF downloads, draft creation and editing, color tools, profile and block substitution, arrangement, repeats, and related browser tools for subscribers. The current page states that plans renew until canceled, cancellation takes effect at the next renewal, access remains until then, and refunds are not offered. |
| Linked page reviewed | Jul 21, 2026 | Jul 28, 2026 | Jul 28, 2026 | Jul 28, 2026 |
| Next review due | Jan 17, 2027 | Jan 24, 2027 | Jan 24, 2027 | Jan 24, 2027 |
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