What is a one-sentence summary of the following article?
If you're low on iron ingots and/or redstone, you can save them by simply looking at the compass pointer when the items are placed in the crafting table but then not activating the crafting.  Note that you can also see the compass on the item statistics page if you've made a compass in the past. This means you can see the direction pointer without having to even use the crafting table. If you need a compass to make map paper, you'll need to craft it. Place the four iron ingots and one redstone into the crafting table as follows:  Place the redstone in the center grid spot. Place the four iron ingots above, below and next to the redstone. Wait for the compass to be crafted. Shift click or drag the compass to your inventory.

Summary:
Consider whether you even need to make the compass first. Craft a compass.