If you want to make your own textures UVMapper Pro is very useful. You can load the object in UVMapper, put the texture on and see how it looks on the object. While you are working on the texture in a paint program, you can easily check in the UVMapper window how the modifications you are doing look on the object. It's very useful for lining up seams. And, like serpentis said, you can make new texture templates that work better on an object without stretching the texture so much.