when is it cheaper to make your own?

valk_scot

SailorSam wrote: »

I don't do it but something like making clothes, i'd imagine wool, cotton etc are expensive are they ? but some of the tee-shirts and jumpers coming in from China are a lot less and ready made,
If you started to factor in payment for your own time, even less things would be homemade.

You wouldn't belive how expensive some clothes can be if you factor in your time. For example, I'm a spinner and knitter. I can buy a top quality Shetland fleece for £5 and that's enough raw wool to make a sweater. But...I have to sort and wash the fleece, card it, spin it into singles, ply it then knit it. Given a ballpark figure of 1200 yards if wool, I'd be looking at 60+ hours of work in that sweater. Whats the minimum wage these days, eh? £5.80 per hour? That would make the true cost of my (admittedly handspun & hand knitted) sweater a tad over £350, lol. Of course when I make things for myself I don't think in terms of my time costs. But if someone wants to commission work I do. Generally folk lose interest round about this point, lol.

Sewing is quicker, trust me. I could make a simple top in two hours, three if I finished it really neatly. But decent dressmaking fabric is not cheap and because few people sew these days the choice is poor. I used to make all my own clothes, from tailored suits to swimwear. Now, I don't bother. Clothes have got a lot cheaper in the last thirty years and it's just not worth it most of the time.

lynzpower

I didnt think baking was cheaper however I made eg the Bero choc chip cookies containing

Flour 5p?
syrup 5p
sugar 10p
half a bag of reeses pieices from Home bargain 7p
margarine- (bought BTHF uttelry butterly for 60p)15
milk 1p

total 53p.

Makes 16.

You cant really get 2 packs of choc chip cookies for 23p a packet, if you do you can bet they are "chocolate flavoured chips" unless you drop lucky in Home bargains/markets etc.

Caterina

brokeinwales wrote: »

I love that! Why?

In th past different days had different foods that the people of Rome would eat, depending on social and religious traditions I suppose (fish on Fridays) and what was available (see Monday, rubber chicken Roman style!)

Mon: broth (I imagine this is to stretch the Sunday roast)
Tues: fish (any)
Weds: anything
Thurs :gnocchi
Fri: baccala` (a type of dried salted cod)
Sat: tripe
Sun: roast, mainly chicken but any meat really

Nowaday everybody eat everything, but I know that you can still find nice and fresh home-style gnocchi at some grocery shops in Rome on Thursdays.

Justamum

valk_scot wrote: »

You wouldn't belive how expensive some clothes can be if you factor in your time. For example, I'm a spinner and knitter. I can buy a top quality Shetland fleece for £5 and that's enough raw wool to make a sweater. But...I have to sort and wash the fleece, card it, spin it into singles, ply it then knit it. Given a ballpark figure of 1200 yards if wool, I'd be looking at 60+ hours of work in that sweater. Whats the minimum wage these days, eh? £5.80 per hour? That would make the true cost of my (admittedly handspun & hand knitted) sweater a tad over £350, lol. Of course when I make things for myself I don't think in terms of my time costs. But if someone wants to commission work I do. Generally folk lose interest round about this point, lol.

But definitely worth the price though - some 'designer' clothes are much more expensive than that.

valk_scot wrote: »

Clothes have got a lot cheaper in the last thirty years.

And they look it too!

cooking-mama

Newbird wrote: »

weezl74 - how are you doing bread for 16.6p a loaf pls? care to share with us?

cooking-mama - chocloate bread, whats your recipe for this then pls and how best to serve it? does it need added butter or spread?

Thx Nb

I used my Rachel Allen breadmaker,so the measurements are in cups..but 1 cup is 144gms.small loaf baked on "sweet" setting,ingredients go in in the order displayed.
Chocolate Bread.(BM)
Water=1 cup,
Egg=1 medium beaten,
Skimmed milk powder=1tbsp,
Sunflower oil=1tbsp,
castor sugar =1/2 cup,
salt=1/2 tsp,
Strong white flour=2 1/8 cups,
Cocoa powder=1/2 cup,
Fast action yeast=1/2 tsp.

There is the option to add 1/4 cup of chopped walnuts-I didnt,I added some chopped cooking chocolate instead,turned out lovely,will definately make it again...may even try a mashed banana in it next time.
PS,Yeh I think a bit dry on its own,but extra lovely with some Nuttella spread on,will try with marj tomorrow.

Justamum

cooking-mama wrote: »

I used my Rachel Allen breadmaker,so the measurements are in cups..but 1 cup is 144gms.small loaf baked on "sweet" setting,ingredients go in in the order displayed.
Chocolate Bread.(BM)
Water=1 cup,
Egg=1 medium beaten,
Skimmed milk powder=1tbsp,
Sunflower oil=1tbsp,
castor sugar =1/2 cup,
salt=1/2 tsp,
Strong white flour=2 1/8 cups,
Cocoa powder=1/2 cup,
Fast action yeast=1/2 tsp.

There is the option to add 1/4 cup of chopped walnuts-I didnt,I added some chopped cooking chocolate instead,turned out lovely,will definately make it again...may even try a mashed banana in it next time.
PS,Yeh I think a bit dry on its own,but extra lovely with some Nuttella spread on,will try with marj tomorrow.

If you made it by hand before you shape it you could roll it out and sprinkle on some chopped chocolate, then roll it up like a swiss roll before putting it in your tin. You could take it out of the breadmaker when it's finished mixing and do the same.

valk_scot

Justamum wrote: »

And they look it too!

Yes, the quality of clothes on the High Street is dreadful these days. In the early 70's when I was a teenager a nice top or fancy t-shirt that you would wear on a night out would be about £5 or a fashionable pair of shoes from a High Street chain like Liley& Skinner would be £6. I was earning 70p an hour as a Saturday girl so I had to do some serious saving to buy something new! But once bought that garment would last for at least a couple of years of use and washing and still come up looking great. I had a serious yen for French Connection and Biba clothes when I could, otherwise it was Wallis in the sales and belive it or not my nieces are still wearing some of the vintage pieces I bought back then.

But for that same £5 you could buy ten yards of Laura Ashley or Liberty fabric and make a copy of one of their shop dresses, or enough top brand yarn to make a designer sweater from a name like Kaffe Fassett or Frank Usher. Many big designers also produced patterns for the home market and sewing and knitting was still taught at school so though we had less clothes they were usually very nice ones and really in keeping with the best of the fashion trends. But I can't imagine a sixteen year old nowadays having ONE Christmas outfit which she's saved up for and/or made in the two months before Christmas, oh no!

I remember in 1980 spending £12.99 on a belt . I don't think I bought anything else ready made for the rest of the year, but I wore and wore it and I still have it somewhere. Too bloomin fat to wear it now though!

Justamum

valk-scot - I've got so many intentions of making myself clothes - I've got material and patterns, it's just that I really should lose [STRIKE]some[/STRIKE] lots of weight before I make myself anything. Procrastination, procrastination!

brokeinwales

In th past different days had different foods that the people of Rome would eat, depending on social and religious traditions I suppose (fish on Fridays) and what was available (see Monday, rubber chicken Roman style!)

Mon: broth (I imagine this is to stretch the Sunday roast)
Tues: fish (any)
Weds: anything
Thurs :gnocchi
Fri: baccala` (a type of dried salted cod)
Sat: tripe
Sun: roast, mainly chicken but any meat really

Nowaday everybody eat everything, but I know that you can still find nice and fresh home-style gnocchi at some grocery shops in Rome on Thursdays.

Meal planning Roman style. I like that. (Unfortunately I don't like fish much otherwise I'd try following that pattern fo a week!)

ubamother

When activities that used to be normal in economic households - preserving, knitting, sewing, quilting etc. become a 'craft' the price of everything that you need to undertake such activities soared. These activities became comparatively rare over the two decades so lost their 'normal' status and became specialised - thereby a craft. So you could argue that as OSers, we are now contributing to the rise in prices of wool, materials, jars etc. by encouraging the rise in such activities!