Make Do and Mend

Aril · 24 January 2006 at 3:48PM

My son has just finished doing WW11 at school and it's got me thinking how I have changed my attitude since OH was made redundant.
These are some of the small ways we have improvised during the last year and thought it would be interesting to read other people's stories as I think it falls within the OS remit:

1.My coffee maker died after 15 years faithful service and previously I would have bought a replacement. Instead I dug a jug out of the cupboard and bought a 35p tea strainer from Tesco. Hey presto one new coffee maker!

2.The zip on my cloth bag went which I'd have probably replaced before. Instead I removed the old zip and stitched velcro on either side and it's back in use again.

3.I have been making a quilt for some time and rather than buying backing fabric from the cloth shop I used a cotton double sheet I'd bought from a jumble sale for 20p [washed it first of course.!

4.OH has been making stands for his miniature furniture at the shows. We have covered them with a spare velvet curtain we had. When we made the last lot we went out and bought new fabric but this time it's cost loads less.

5.We reused the wooden bars from small person's cot to make dowel rods for some HM wall hangings I made.

There are probably more just can't think of any now.....however, the main I think I have learnt from this past year's experience [apart from all the great ideas I've used from here] is to think laterally and consider what you may already have at home to fix/use things before buying in new.
Aril

tootles_2 · 24 January 2006 at 5:16PM

When my yougest two chidlren were small we had very little money and my husband worked away during the week.To keep myself occupied in the long winter evenings I bought a very cheap electric sewing machine and started to make the childrens clothes, one of the things I did was to cut out the unworn bits of OH's trousers and make them into shorts for my son. OH used to wear out the bits between the legs, so the trouser legs were fiins and opened out soon made up into smart shorts for my son.

I still turned sheets side to middle until very recently when I bought fitted sheets after my old ones had to be turned into dusters.......one thing I will not do however is darn socks!!!!! I was made to do this when a girl and hated both doing it and wearing the darned socks/stockings, I was so glad when I left school and did not have to wear those awful black woollen stockings any more.

maryb · 24 January 2006 at 6:15PM

I had a nice white seersucker cotton duvet cover which wore out along the top edge where you grab it to pull the covers up. I cut off the top 8 inches or so then sewed a strip of plain sheeting on which I then topstitched so that the join looked meant before sewing the duvet cover back together again. It took about 45 minutes and i got another three years' wear out of it plus I actually preferred the look of it with the plain strip at the top, which was a bonus

SallyinWales · 24 January 2006 at 6:16PM

I find darning rather soothing! I do insist on doing it in wildly contrasting colours though!

Rikki · 24 January 2006 at 6:21PM

maryb wrote:

I had a nice white seersucker cotton duvet cover which wore out along the top edge where you grab it to pull the covers up. I cut off the top 8 inches or so then sewed a strip of plain sheeting on which I then topstitched so that the join looked meant before sewing the duvet cover back together again. It took about 45 minutes and i got another three years' wear out of it plus I actually preferred the look of it with the plain strip at the top, which was a bonus

I made both of my childrens quilts and I put the fastenings on the side so you can top and tail the quilt.

[Deleted User] · 24 January 2006 at 6:31PM

I had a kingsize tempur 3" mattress topper, which cost a lot of money at the time, but 12 months ago we changed to an electric bed, which consisted of two singles fastened together so that they can go up and down independently. I cut the tempur mattress longways, in half and also the stretchy cover. I made two gussets and sewed each half cover into a cover for each single mattress. Result is that each single mattress now has a tempur topper

I also cut up every KS flat sheet and KS fitted sheet and made single fitted sheets. So now we have KS duvet covers and a KS duvet with several single fitted sheets. I have lovely flannalette and 400 count cotton so wasn`t going to give them away.

Actually looking back I don`t know how I did it because it was very boring but well worth it

SueRob_2 · 24 January 2006 at 6:37PM

I cut down my sheets when they get worn, when my DD had her first baby I was able to give her loads of cot & pram sized sheets, I do the same with towels. I also made lots of my childrens clothes from unwanted adult sized stuff.
Sue

maryb · 24 January 2006 at 10:42PM

another thing I do is cut down DD2's summer jeans to make capris. She's so skinny that anything that's long enough falls down even with elastic in the waist so trousers that are way too short actually fit comfortably. Can't do the same in the winter unfortunately

scuzz · 25 January 2006 at 11:08AM

When I was younger I used to have the great big animal slippers. When the underneath used to wear out, Mum used to iron on some of that iron on material and I'd get some more wear out of them

wishingonastar_3 · 25 January 2006 at 11:45AM

i never buy dusters, old odd socks work just as well, especially terry ones. they are also great on a hanger for reaching up for cobwebs or under things. when the rail broke in my wardrobe i used an old broom handle to replace it. works just as well. an old duvet cover i have i use for garden waste to take to the tip, its amazing how much you can fit in one, and its great to stop bits going all over the boot of the car, and i just upend it in the garden waste skip. old tea towels are used as floor cloths. all salvagable socks are darned, and all clothes mended until they fall apart, then usually made into rag rugs. old blankets were sown into the lining of the curtains to keep warmth inside. hope these help someone, i love some of the ideas on here.

[Deleted User] · 25 January 2006 at 11:51AM

My two daughters are now grown up and aged 37 & 39 I still have some of my Harrington Nappies that they wore when they were babies and I use them for dusters and cleaning cloths. It's excellent as I can boil them when they are mucky and don't have to do a seperate wash as I would if I had those horrid yellow dusters. The yellow runs like the River Thames. They are still as soft as they were over 35 years ago ,albeit a bit thinner. I was brought up during and after WW2 and find it very hard not to 'make do and mend ' My poor old Mum had three children to bring up on very little money as my Dad was away in the army so it wasn't a choice but a neccesity.
It is surprising what with a little ingenuity you can improvise almost anything. I rarely throw anything away as I can usually find another use for things. Boot sales are a bonus as I can always find odd pillow cases or sheets for very little money.Once washed and ironed whose to know they wern't mine in the first place. I bought a lovely duvet and pillow case set last year for £1.00 the lady said that she had changed her colour scheme and it clashed .So folk have more money than sense, who's going to look at my duvet, and complain about the colour schem it's daft.
A Flannelette sheet cut into two, or even four, if it's a double, and hemmed around makes a nice cosy cot sheet, and baby doesn't care what colour it is .
My daughter has five children and I have always found cot sheets for them this way. I also unravel any baby jumpers or cardi's and reknit them into blankets for all of my grandkids. They call them 'Nanny's cosy's My eldest grandson is 15 and his 'cosy ' is in West Ham colours.Mind I don't think he tells his mates how he snuggles up on the sofa with his 'cosy'

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Make Do and Mend

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