What an interesting year we had, 2020! Somehow we managed to put it behind us, and because it is customary to look behind and review the past, I have decided to summarize the activities on ageberry.com for the last year. Yes, I know, I am a couple of days late, but I felt a sharp need to write first about a very pointy subject: Types of sewing pins and their uses
Last year I have somehow managed to write about or update a number of projects that interested me – and I hope not only me, starting with the Valentine’s day decorations and ending with the DIY Christmas Angel Ornament. The complete list is below (not in chronological order!):
- Valentine’s day decorations
- DIY Christmas Angel Ornament
- DIY sachets: how to make lavender sachets for closets and drawers
- How to sew a simple skirt – a knit pencil skirt pattern and tutorial
- How to make a robe without a pattern from silk fabric
- Butterfly Applique Pillow Sewing Tutorial
- DIY Christmas Angel Ornament
- DIY Barbie doll clothes patterns free printable
- Unique DIY Christmas Ornaments 2020
- Bargello Quilt Tutorial { Quilted Christmas Table Runner }
- DIY pencil skirt: how to make a pencil skirt pattern
- How to Make Fabric Pumpkins
- Exquisite designs using Trapunto quilting technique
- Easy sewing projects: DIY silk robe without a pattern
- How to make a dress without a pattern
- Easy sewing projects with buttons
- Unicorn Christmas stocking {sewing pattern and step-by-step tutorial}
- How to make a cute and very useful wrist pin cushion {step-by-step sewing tutorial}
- Super Easy DIY Scrunchie
- Easy tops to sew – how to make an easy top pattern plus a step-by-step sewing tutorial
- DIY beach dress sewing tutorial plus how to make a beach cover-up pattern
- High waisted shorts DIY plus how to make an easy pattern
- Off the shoulder dress pattern drafting sewing tutorial
- Off-shoulder dress cutting and stitching
- How to make off-shoulder dress SLEEVE pattern
- Easy fabric flowers {a sewing tutorial and a free pattern}
Then we were hit with the unexpected gift of the Covid-19 and things changed dramatically. I did not know it then, but by the time the world took notice that there is something wrong, one of my daughters already had the virus; she was sick for more than two weeks with lingering effects for a couple of months. So I knew immediately this is serious, my daughter was only 27 at that time, so I became active in asking everyone to wear protective equipment. I also made a number of projects about these:
- How to sew a fabric face mask plus a free face mask pattern
- Sewing tutorial on a face mask from fabric plus a free pattern
- How to make a bucket hat DIY with a clear face shield
- Sewing tutorial on how to sew a scrub hat plus 2 free printable scrub cap patterns
- Sew headband DIY sewing pattern
- DIY kids mask: very easy child size and toddler mask pattern and sewing tutorial
- How to sew a face mask using my free printable face mask template
- Video sewing tutorial on how to sew clear vinyl zipper pouches
In between, I also wrote some articles about the mask itself and I tried to answer some common questions:
- DIY 3D face masks – questions and answers
- Supply list for making a bucket hat with a clear protective shield
- All about fusible interfacing for masks
Sometime during the late summer, I realized the pandemic is winning our minds and I started to fight back. After all, it was clear by then that this is not the-disease-to-end-the-world. Yes, it is a tragedy for many, it disrupted our lives, it affected our well being, it has killed many people. But it was clear that there is a light at the end of the dark tunnel, so I decided to start publishing articles that affirm life, continuity, family, articles that want to send a positive message.
Articles that say “life goes on”. And here are some:
- Is Learning To Sew Hard? (thank you, Carol)
- Thinking positively: Is your glass half full?
- Sewing Room Ideas For Small Spaces (thank you again, Carol!)
- Some thoughts for the end of the year
- The story of us: continuity and progress
And of course I can’t forget the food! We all eat, and I don’t know about others, but I don’t like to be hungry! Dieting, I decided long ago, is something you do for medical reasons only (or as my husband says, to allow an alternate way to eat your calories, like beer or wine 😃). So I wrote about some recipes that I have from my mother and grandmother, recipes that do not really require much effort or expensive ingredients and which I still prepare quite often:
Of course I have not forgotten that the main purpose of the site is to offer tips and encouragements to fellow sewing enthusiasts! I wrote a number of articles on this:
- 20+ Applique Techniques and Sewing Tutorials on How to Applique
- Blind hem foot: How to sew an invisible hem with a sewing machine
- How to sew straight
- How to sew a buttonhole by hand
- Quilting with an embroidery machine
- Sewing machine tension guide: everything you need to know about the bobbin tension
- Machine embroidery tutorial: how to embroider flowers on knits
- Twin needle sewing machine – everything you need to know about sewing with a twin needle
- Best quilt batting, types of batting and how to choose batting for a project
- Serger vs. sewing machine
- Types of seams sewing tutorial
- How to cut fabric straight
- What is the stitch length and how to adjust it for different fabrics
- How to Store Sewing Patterns
- 36+ simple and effective ways to sew faster
- Sewing Machine Tension Adjustment
- How to square up fabric
- Narrow hem tutorial: how to make a narrow hem using a Ban Roll tape
- The Self-Threading Serger
- Coverstitch vs. Serger
- Sewing machine bobbin problems and solutions
- How big is a yard of fabric plus yardage conversion chart
- How to put in an invisible zipper using Wonder tape
- The Ultimate Guide to Stretch Needles
- How to choose clothes and patterns to give the appearance of a flatter stomach
- Types of Hand Sewing Needles and Their Uses
- Machine Embroidery Needles 101
- Review of Singer Intelligent Steam Press model ESP26O
- Types Of Stretch Stitches On A Sewing Machine And When To Use
- (Almost) Free Embroidery Software?
I wrote a series of articles about threads, their classifications and usage:
I had also a number of reviews of techniques from other sites; I do not always want to invent the wheel, if there are others already making a good one. Here they are:
- How to sew a lettuce hem
- Free Quilted Christmas Stocking Patterns
- 20 Festive Christmas Table Runner Patterns to Dress Up Your Table
- 19 DIY Drawstring Backpack Patterns
A busy year, wouldn’t you say? I hope I have touched at least some of the subjects that are of interest to most of us, and if not, there is always the next year, right?
If you want to be kept in the loop with every new article on this site, subscribe to my newsletter and you will receive one communication every time I publish an article. You will also receive access to my “Resource Library” page where you will find a number of free patterns and other printable articles.
If you are already a subscriber, you do not need to subscribe again; check your email for instructions how to access the “Resource Library” page. If you do not see the message in your regular Inbox, look in the “Spam” folders, some mail servers mark all mass communications as “spam”. If that happened, just add my message to the “safe sender” list in your email client.
Did you find this list helpful? If so, save this pin (see below) on your sewing board so you can come to it later when you need it, and follow me on Pinterest for more tips, tutorials, and inspiration!
Thanks so much for providing the year end summary in one place for easy locating of your articles!
I would like to say thank you for the new format? that seems to be making it easier for me to comment on your blog posts. This is the very first time I have been able to do this because the “submit a comment” has been right at the bottom of the page. Perhaps I just have not seen it before.
Thank you! All posts have the “comment” part at the end of the article; scroll right to the bottom, it should be there. The comments load only upon request, so you really need to scroll to the very bottom to allow the section to load. This is necessary because some posts have so many comments that it would delay the page display too much. Technology! The simpler it becomes, the more complex it becomes!